BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to assist small and medium-sized enterprises.

Mark Prisk: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 99% of private businesses, and SME performance and activity is clearly a key driver of the UK economy. If we are to promote growth in the economy, we need to address the challenges that small businesses face: providing a predictable tax system that rewards endeavour; better access to both debt and equity finance; less red tape; a skilled workforce; and support for exports to markets around the globe.
	That is why June's Budget announced a series of measures aimed at helping small businesses, including:
	A £200 million extension to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), to benefit around 2,000 extra small businesses. In total, the EFG will now support up to £700 million in bank lending to viable small businesses.
	A new Enterprise Capita! Fund to support small businesses with high growth potential-combining both Government and private sector funding.
	Confirmation of a Growth Capital Fund, to provide funding of between £2 million and £10 million for SMEs with strong growth potential.
	Creation of a Regional Growth Fund in 2011-12 and 2012-13, encouraging private sector enterprise to help areas adjust to reductions in public spending, particularly in those places most reliant on public sector employment.
	Two key areas of concern to small businesses are ensuring that there is less red tape and being able to access the finance they need to grow. We have already committed to introducing a "one-in one-out" rule for new regulations, sunset clauses, a new Reducing Regulation Cabinet Committee and an immediate review of all inherited regulation in the pipeline. We have also published a joint consultation with the Treasury on business finance, aimed at ensuring that the banking system and financial markets meet the needs of the economy over the long term. This is available at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/businessfinance
	We are also making it easier for small businesses to bid for public sector contracts, with an aspiration that 25% of all Government procurement should be from SMEs. Together with the Office of Government Commerce, this Department is taking forward measures in this area. For example, by the end of 2010, businesses will be able to gain free and easy online access to all new central Government tender documents for contracts over £10,000. This will be a significant step forward, as currently only contracts worth over £20,000 are available online.

Business Link West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of Business Link West Midlands; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Business Link West Midlands in  (a) supporting access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises,  (b) assisting businesses to diversify,  (c) assisting businesses to increase their efficiency and  (d) assisting businesses to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions; and what steps he plans to take to maintain levels of support for access to business finance in the West Midlands.

Mark Prisk: The Department is committed to modernising how support, information and advice are provided to businesses. With the proposed reform of the regional development agencies who manage the service in the regions, we are currently considering how services are best delivered in the future. The Spending Review and current financial realities mean that we are also examining how to deliver these within a smaller overall Department budget.
	No decision will be taken on the future of Business Link, not only in the West Midlands but across England, until all the options have been properly considered.
	In terms of Business Link West Midlands' effectiveness, during 2009/10 the Business Link:
	  (a) Provided support for access to finance to 731 businesses, with 360 of these undertaking in depth consultancy support helping them to raise over £15 million of external finance.
	  (b) Helped 300 businesses to diversify into new markets or products, with these businesses investing over £2 million of their own funds to do so.
	  (c ) and  ( d) Supported over 200 businesses via it's Resource Efficiency programme, which was only launched in September 2009 to help businesses to reduce costs and their carbon footprint, and to increase their competitiveness. However, it is too early to be able to measure the impact on carbon dioxide emissions.
	Lastly, the Government have also launched a consultation paper 'Financing a Private Sector Recovery', which closes to responses on 20 September 2010 and this will help inform our future approach to supporting businesses to access appropriate finance.

Business Link West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects on small and medium-sized enterprises in  (a) Coventry and  (b) the West Midlands of the reduction in funding allocated to Business Link West Midlands.

Mark Prisk: Responsibility for, and the decisions on funding to Business Link West Midlands, rests with Advantage West Midlands Development Agency not the Department.
	Following the Chancellor's budget statement on 24 May all RDA's were tasked with finding budget cuts for 2009/10 of £270 million. As a consequence of this all RDAs have reviewed their contractual commitments to all projects and services that they fund to identify areas where budget savings can be made.
	I cannot quantify the impact these will make on the ability of the Business Link West Midlands to support businesses either in Coventry or the West Midlands as a whole, as the detail of where cuts will fall are still being worked through.

Departmental Billing

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in July and August 2010.

Edward Davey: Since May 2010 and in line with other Government Departments, BIS has recorded and published the proportion of invoices paid within five working days of receipt. The Department publishes this information at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/about/procurement/prompt-payment/bis-payment-performance
	However, during July and August 2010, the Department paid 98.6% and 99% on invoices within 10 working days or receipt respectively. In the same period, the Department paid 93.9% of invoices in both months within five working days.

Departmental Empty Property

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department and its predecessors spent on vacant properties in each year since 1997.

Edward Davey: This Department and its predecessors have had an active estates rationalisation programme since 2000 and have successfully let vacant space on its core HQ estate to other Government Departments. The only vacant space we currently have on the core Estate is 800 square metres at St Mary's House in Sheffield. This has been vacant since April 2006 with costs as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006/07 129,200 
			 2007/08 145,700 
			 2008/09 174,800 
			 2009/10 220,500 
		
	
	Previously, two floors at Atholl House, Aberdeen, were vacant during the financial years 2004/05 until 2007/08. The costs incurred during each of these years was as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004/05 199,400 
			 2005/06 297,800 
			 2006/07 302,100 
			 2007/08 325,200 
		
	
	After the dissolution of the Learning Skills Council in April 2010, properties not required for the Skills Funding Agency or the Young People's Learning Agency were transferred back to this Department. There are currently 19 properties with vacant space which falls within the BIS estate at an estimated cost this financial year of £8.8 million. An active programme to market this space to seek tenants is under way.
	Finally, in April 2010, ownership of Investors in People was transferred from this Department to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills leaving one vacant floor in 7-10 Chandos Street, London. The estimated cost of this space for the current financial year is £430,000.

Departmental Fines

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many transport-related fines his Department has settled on behalf of its staff in each year since 2005; and what the cost to the public purse was in each such year.

Edward Davey: The Department has not settled any transport related fines on behalf of staff in any of the years since 2005.

Departmental Work Experience

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many unpaid, expenses-only internships there have been in  (a) his Department and  (b) public bodies which fall within his Department's area of responsibility in the last 12 months.

Edward Davey: There have been no unpaid or expenses-only interns in the last 12 months.

Export Credits: India

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the Export Credits Guarantee Department will provide assistance for the recently-announced sale of Hawk jets to India.

Edward Davey: ECGD will not be providing assistance for the sale of Hawk jets to India.

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to bring forward proposals to set a cap on the fees charged by insolvency practitioners.

Edward Davey: We currently have no plans to introduce legislation to cap the level of fees charged by insolvency practitioners. Power to set such fees rests with the creditors or the court.
	However, the Government are considering their response to the Office of Fair Trading's review into the corporate insolvency market, published on 24 June 2010. In that review the Office of Fair Trading recommended that the complaints process should be extended to include complaints over fees charged by insolvency practitioners. In advance of the Government's full response it would be inappropriate to comment on one separate recommendation at this stage.

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage greater transparency in the insolvency sector.

Edward Davey: In March, the Insolvency Service published the second annual Review of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation. The review sets out the essential features of the regulatory regime that governs insolvency practitioners, what the public and businesses can expect from it and what steps the regulators are taking to improve it.
	Changes were also made to the procedural insolvency rules in England and Wales in April to require insolvency practitioners to provide more information to creditors on the progress of insolvency cases, in particular in relation to remuneration and other expenses incurred. Additionally, creditors have been given new rights to request further information from the office-holder on the remuneration and expenses shown in the progress reports that they are sent.
	The Office of Fair Trading recently issued a report on its market study into the operation of the corporate insolvency industry and the Government are studying its findings prior to issuing a response.

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average time taken to settle an insolvency case was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Edward Davey: The Insolvency Service does not record this information.
	Following the introduction of the Enterprise Act 2002, administration has a statutory time limit of 12 months, although this may be extended with the permission of the court or by the agreement of creditors.
	Liquidations do not have a statutory time limit, but research conducted by the Insolvency Service suggests that the average length of a liquidation is around 2 to 2.5 years.
	The Enterprise Act 2002 also introduced a statutory 12-month time limit for bankruptcy, and provides for earlier discharge in some cases.

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to review the regulation of the Insolvency Service.

Edward Davey: At present, operation of the Insolvency Service is regulated through the requirement to produce, and lay in Parliament, an annual corporate plan, as well as annual fees orders, which set the fees charged by official receivers for their work in dealing with bankruptcy and insolvency case administration. For the service's work in company investigation and enforcement, and redundancy payments, funding is set through allocations made from BIS and HMRC respectively and the level of this allocation is made in response to submissions from the service to each Department, as part of their wider budget-setting.
	For all areas of the service, the corporate plan sets out its vision for delivering services, with particular emphasis on its plans and targets for the coming year. The plan is reviewed by BIS to ensure that its goals are realistic and that targets are achievable within the resources available, and yet are set at a level to stretch the organisation. Performance against the targets and budgets is reported to the Minister on a quarterly basis.
	There are no plans to make substantive changes to this reporting process.

Manufacturing Advisory Service

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of the  (a) Manufacturing Advisory Service and  (b) Manufacturing Advisory Service West Midlands.

Mark Prisk: The Government fully recognises the vital role that is played by the Manufacturing Advisory Service, both nationally and in the West Midlands, in helping UK manufacturers to improve productivity and achieve success in an increasingly competitive economy. Future funding for all business support, including the Manufacturing Advisory Service, is subject to the spending review which will be announced on 20 October 2010.
	The Government considers that manufacturing will be an important component in rebalancing the economy and supporting UK growth in the future.

Manufacturing Industries

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to encourage UK-based manufacturers to employ staff locally rather than import products, with particular reference to Rolls Royce Hucknall.

Mark Prisk: This Department recognises the importance to the UK of the advanced manufacturing sector and the high-value jobs it supports. Growth in this sector is an important part of creating a balanced and resilient economy. In a globally competitive market it must ultimately be a commercial decision for individual companies whether to manufacture items themselves or put work into the supply chain, either in the UK or overseas. However, we are committed to working with businesses, including Rolls-Royce, to create conditions that enable UK manufacturers to thrive; to see how we can better support employers and individuals to invest in learning and to develop the skills they and our economy need; and to promote best practice and effective employment relations.

Motor Vehicles: Government Assistance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many orders for vehicles were placed through the vehicle scrappage scheme.

Mark Prisk: The final figures for orders taken under the vehicle scrappage scheme will not be available until all outstanding claims under the scheme have been validated and paid. This work continues as final claims are submitted under the scheme.

Overseas Trade: Algeria

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the total level of trade between the UK and Algeria in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009.

Mark Prisk: Overseas trade statistics data for UK trade in goods with Algeria are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   UK exports of goods to Algeria  UK imports of goods from Algeria 
			 2005 145 473 
			 2008 268 842 
			 2009 327 540 
		
	
	Table 9.13 of the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book gives the following figures for UK trade in services with Algeria:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   UK exports of services to Algeria  UK imports of services from Algeria 
			 2005(1) 109 113 
			 2008 214 88 
			 2009 157 65 
			 (1) Data for services trade in 2005 are taken from the 2007 publication and may not be consistent with the later figures.

Post Offices

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the Post Office's branch business migration industry standard gravity model.

Edward Davey: This is commercially sensitive information and it is not appropriate for it to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Bank Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2010,  Official Report, column 508, to the hon. Member for Norwich South, on the Post Office network, what account he is taking in his consideration of the case for a Post Office bank of the effects of such a bank on  (a) sustaining the Post Office network and  (b) the wider society and economy of the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: We want Post Offices to offer a wide range of services-including financial and Government services-to generate revenues in order to help sustain the network. Post Offices already play an important role in putting essential financial services within everyone's reach, in particular those who may have difficulty accessing other providers. The size of the Post Office network means that important services are available throughout the country: the access criteria for the Post Office network ensure that 99% of the UK population are within three miles of their nearest post office outlet, and in deprived urban areas 99% are within one mile of their nearest post office outlet.

Regional Development Agencies

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who will have responsibility for regional economic and skills strategies after regional development agencies have been abolished.

Mark Prisk: We do not intend to have a requirement for a central public body to produce a regional economic or skills strategy.

Regional Development Agencies: Information Officers

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many press officers each regional development agency employed in each year since 2005;
	(2)  what the average salary of a press officer in a regional development agency was in each year since 2005.

Mark Prisk: The average press officer salary and numbers of press officers employed by the regional development agencies in each year since 2005 are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Average press officer salary 
			   £ 
			 2005/06 25,268 
			 2006/07 31,026 
			 2007/08 27,095 
			 2008/09 32,387 
			 2009/10 33,561 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of press officers (FTE) 
			  RDA  2005/06  2006/07  2007/08  2008/09  2009/10 
			 AWM 2 2 2 3 2 
			 EEDA 2.51 2 2.42 2.96 2 
			 emda 2 2 2 2 2 
			 LDA 1.06 2.25 4 1.16 3.58 
			 NWDA 5.1 4.9 5.2 6 6 
			 ONE 5 5 4 4 3.61 
			 SEEDA 2 2.46 4 1.83 1.38 
			 SWRDA 3 3 2.31 1.39 0.81 
			 YF 3 2.5 4 4 3

Regional Development Agencies: Redundancy Pay

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what measures are in place to make severance provision for staff working for a regional development agency.

Mark Prisk: The regional development agency staff are eligible for severance payments under the Civil Service Compensation scheme as agreed by the Cabinet Office.
	The regional development agencies will each consider when to introduce severance schemes according to business need during the transition period to closure following the Cabinet Office guidance.

Supermarkets: Competition

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Competition Commission on the supermarket sector.

Edward Davey: Ministers have not recently held any specific discussions with the Competition Commission (CC) on the supermarket sector. However, BIS Ministers and officials regularly meet with the CC to discuss a wide range of competition issues.
	On 3 August the Government announced their proposals to set up the Groceries Code Adjudicator in response to a CC recommendation.
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-law/docs/competition-matters/10-1011-groceries-supply-code-practice-government-response

Supermarkets: Competition

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to bring forward proposals for the establishment of a grocery supply chain ombudsman.

Edward Davey: The Government's proposals to establish a Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) were published on 3 August 2010 in response to a public consultation held earlier in the year.
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-law/docs/competition-matters/10-1011-groceries-supply-code-practice-government-response
	We intend to publish a draft Bill during the first session to set up the GCA.

Window Blinds: Safety

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2010,  Official Report, column 319W, on window blinds: safety, what assessment he has made of the joint statement of 15 June 2010 from the US administration, Health Canada and the European Commission on the safety of looped blind cords.

Edward Davey: The Government welcome the joint letter of 15 June by the Commission, Health Canada and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, to their respective standardisation organisations urging them to come to a swift and ideally harmonised response to the safety risks posed to young children by certain internal blinds. This letter has further highlighted the urgent need to take action if we are to eliminate this cause of injury and death.
	The Standard setting process will take time and looks unlikely to be concluded until late 2011 at the earliest. In the meantime, this Department will continue to work with industry, through the British Blind and Shutter Association, and others like Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and the Child Accident Prevention Trust in ensuring the appropriate safety messages are conveyed to consumers and retailers. To this end the Department has invited the major retailers of internal blinds to a safety seminar to be held on 27 September.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Community Relations

Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had on policies to increase public awareness of different cultures, religions and communities.

Andrew Stunell: My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister for Decentralisation met leaders from the main faiths at an event hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace on 16 July 2010, where the Big Society was discussed. I met a diverse faith-based audience when I spoke at the annual meeting of the Inter Faith Network for the UK on 8 July 2010. The Government are working to help create a Big Society where everyone, whatever their background, is able to contribute to Britain's prosperity and to play their part in a proud and inclusive society.

Community Relations: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to promote community cohesion in Coventry.

Andrew Stunell: Cohesion in Coventry will be promoted by local activity arising through reforms linked to Localism and the Big Society. Building cohesion requires a bottom-up approach that promotes social responsibility and uses the energy and ideals of citizens, communities and the voluntary sector to bring different people together. This Government are working to help create a Big Society where everyone, whatever their background, is able to contribute to Britain's prosperity and to play their part in a proud and inclusive society, bringing people to come together to solve problems and improve life for their communities.

Departmental Fines

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many transport-related fines his Department has settled on behalf of its staff in each year since 2005; and what the cost to the public purse was in each such year.

Bob Neill: The Department's travel rules state clearly that individuals are personally liable for any parking/transport fines they incur.

EU Grants and Loans: North West

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the decision to freeze further North West Development Agency spending from funds allocated under the current European Regional Development Fund programme.

Bob Neill: There is not a freeze on RDAs spending funds allocated under the European Regional Development Fund. However, in view of the impending abolition of the RDAs, a moratorium has been placed on them providing match funding from their own resources where this goes beyond the 2010-11 financial year.
	Potential ERDF beneficiaries should therefore continue to submit applications to the relevant Regional Development Agencies until new arrangements for the regional administration of the programmes have been announced.

Government Office for the West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he consulted  (a) employees,  (b) businesses and (c) local authorities in the West Midlands before his decision to abolish the Government Office for the West Midlands.

Greg Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Katy Clark) and the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman) on 27 July 2010,  Official Report, column 1037W.

Government Offices for the Regions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the savings which will accrue to the Exchequer consequent on the closure of the Government Office Network.

Greg Clark: On 22 July 2010 the Government announced their intention in principle to abolish the remaining Government offices. We anticipate savings from any final decision to close the Government offices. The exact sums will not be clear until the end of the spending review.

Government Offices for the Regions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the likely effects on equalities in each region of the abolition of the Government Office Network.

Greg Clark: On 22 July 2010 the Government announced their intention in principle to abolish the remaining Government offices. Equality assessments on the impact on staff and delivery of Government policy are being carried out as part of the consideration of consequential issues referred to in the Secretary of State's announcement.

Government Offices for the Regions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the savings that will be made in each region in England arising from the closure of the Government Office Network; what analysis his Department has made of such savings; and what methodology was used to calculate them.

Greg Clark: On 22 July 2010 the Government announced their intention in principle to abolish the remaining Government offices following consideration of consequential issues. We anticipate savings from any final decision to close the Government office network. These will be worked out as part of the spending review process with the exact sums to follow in the autumn.

Government Offices for the Regions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of his Department's annual estate costs, including dilapidations, following the closure of the Government Office Network.

Greg Clark: The Department's annual estate running costs are estimated to be £21.5 million. The Department does not publish its estimates of dilapidations settlements as to do so may impact on the outcome of commercial negotiations or associated court proceedings.

Government Offices for the Regions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what resources he has assigned to redeploying Government Office Network staff; and whether he has had discussions on this matter with  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials of the Cabinet Office.

Greg Clark: The Government office for London assigned existing resources to support the redeployment of staff. The Government office for London closed on 1 September with staff returning to their Departments for redeployment.
	The Secretary of State's announcement on 22 July made clear that final decisions regarding the future of the Government offices will be made at the end of the spending review following consideration of consequential issues. Any decisions on resources for the redeployment of staff will therefore be made once the spending review is complete. Extensive discussions have taken place with Departments including Cabinet Office.

Housing: Construction

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what proportion of the council tax allowance for each unit of new build housing district councils will receive under the New Homes Bonus Scheme in the first six years of its operation; and to which bodies, and in what proportion, the remainder of the allowance will be allocated;
	(2)  how many new homes he expects to be built in each region under the New Homes Bonus Scheme in each year to 2014-15.

Grant Shapps: The Government are committed to increasing housing supply and seeing more of the homes that people want, in the places that people want them, to meet Britain's housing need. The previous Government's policy of centralist top down targets clearly failed. The New Homes Bonus will shift power back into the hands of individuals, communities and councils and give local communities a direct and substantial share in growth rather than just absorbing the costs.
	In a letter to local authority leaders on 9 August, I set out my intention to consult on the specific design features of the New Homes Bonus alongside the spending review. A copy of this letter was sent to all MPs and placed in the Library of the House.

Housing: Empty Property

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to make more effective use of unoccupied homes in tackling unmet housing needs.

Grant Shapps: We are looking closely at the cause and nature of empty homes and the full range of potential measures to bring empty homes back into use, as part of a well functioning housing market.

Local Government Finance

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will consider the merits of abolishing the floor damping factor in his next calculation of the local government finance settlement.

Bob Neill: Floor damping has a role in limiting changes in formula grant from one year to the next. The 2011-12 Local Government Finance settlement will be consulted on in the usual manner in due course.

Medway Council: Finance

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the grant to Medway Council  (a) with and  (b) without floor damping in each of the last five years.

Bob Neill: Figures giving a breakdown of Formula Grant, including floor damping amounts, for the years requested for all authorities are available on our website. Figures for 2010-11 are at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1011/grant.htm
	Floor damping amounts and Formula Grant allocated for Medway district council
	are:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Floor damping  Formula g rant 
			 2010-11 -4.320 85.130 
			 2009-10 -4.857 82.225 
			 2008-09 -5.502 79.120 
			 2007-08 -4.519 71.281 
			 2006-07 -4.755 68.258

National Tenant Voice

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he had with representatives of tenants' groups  (a) prior to and  (b) after taking the decision to abolish National Tenant Voice.

Grant Shapps: I have had many discussions with tenants' groups over the past few years, and more recently with representatives of the National Tenant Voice (NTV). before taking the decision not to proceed with the NTV. I plan to meet representatives of the National Tenant Organisations shortly.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Contract Rights Renewal Merger Undertakings

Anna Soubry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with Ofcom on the future of the contract rights renewal merger undertakings.

Hugh Robertson: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with senior representatives from Ofcom about issues of interest. The contract rights renewal undertakings is one of a wide range of issues which have been covered in the course of these discussions.

Contract Rights Renewal Merger Undertakings

Anna Soubry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on responsibility for the contract rights renewal merger undertakings.

Hugh Robertson: My hon. Friend the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries has discussions with ministerial colleagues about a wide range of issues, relevant to his portfolio, and these have included the contract rights renewal undertakings.

Cricket

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will hold discussions with the International Cricket Council on measures to restore public trust in the sport.

Hugh Robertson: I hope to meet the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Sharad Pawar, to discuss what more we can do to support the true values of the game at the beginning of October during my visit to the Commonwealth games in Delhi.

Football: Maintenance

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what progress has been made on proposals to reform football governance to encourage and support the co-operative ownership of football clubs by supporters.

Hugh Robertson: I am answering in my capacity as Minister for Sport (and the Olympics). Our priority for football is to win the Football World Cup bid for 2018. However, co-operative ownership of football clubs by supporters is a matter I take seriously and I will work closely with the football authorities on this issue. I am encouraged by plans from the Arsenal Supporters' Trust to increase supporter involvement in Arsenal Football Club and look forward to seeing how the scheme develops.

Mass Media: Prostitution

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will bring forward proposals to prohibit the advertising of sexual services in newspapers and other mainstream media.

Hugh Robertson: The Government have no plans to prohibit the advertising of legally permitted sexual services in newspapers and other mainstream media. Non-broadcast advertising in the UK is strictly controlled through industry self-regulation, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Broadcast advertising is similarly controlled by the ASA working in a co-regulatory partnership with Ofcom. This regulatory system is independent of Government and is ultimately responsible for setting the standards in advertising.
	The advertising of legally permitted sexual services is subject to strict rules in both Advertising Codes on misleading the public, social responsibility, harm, and offence (with a particular emphasis on protecting children) and taking into account both the content of an advertisement and the context in which it appears. Advertisements found to be in breach of these rules are removed and prohibited from appearing again.

Olympic Games 2012: Contracts

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many contracts related to the London 2012 Olympics have been awarded to businesses and organisations in  (a) the West Midlands,  (b) Wolverhampton and  (c) Wolverhampton North East constituency; and what the monetary value is of each such contract.

Hugh Robertson: Information on businesses across the nations and regions that have won Olympic-related contracts directly supplying the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) or in the supply chains of its contractors is available in the business section of the London 2012 website under the heading ODA Suppliers, where you will be able to find suppliers listed by venue and sector:
	http://www.london2012.com/business
	Here you will also find information on businesses that have won contracts in the supply chains of the ODA's contractors.
	The estimated value of the contracts awarded to businesses in the West Midlands is to date £418,649,180. Of this, the figure for businesses in Wolverhampton is £261,785,842 and to date no businesses have been awarded contracts in the Wolverhampton North East constituency. The ODA is unable to release the value of individual contracts at this time as this is commercially sensitive information. These figures represent the committed spend to date, rather than the end contract value, as in many cases this will not yet be known. These figures only account for the contracts awarded by the ODA to its own top tier of contractors (tier one contractors). The figures do not include the values of contracts further down the supply chain, in tiers two, three and so on, which are awarded by the tier one contractors and not by the ODA. The ODA estimates that the total value of supply chain contracts to the regions runs into millions of pounds, but these are not public procurements and so the full value of contracts won across the UK is not captured by the figures provided. The ODA estimates that overall up to 50,000 contracts will be generated throughout its supply chains.

Olympic Games 2012: Public Opinion

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 22 July 2010,  Official Report, column 472W, on Olympic Delivery Authority, if he will place in the Library an analysis of the polling undertaken by the Olympic Delivery Authority over the last three years.

Hugh Robertson: The figures listed in the table provide a further breakdown of polling undertaken by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) over the last three years:
	
		
			  Polling undertaken by ODA Communications 
			   Amount (£) 
			 2007-08 28,766.94 
			 2008-09 12,328.69 
			 2009-10 12,942.50 
		
	
	These figures are attributed to polling on the effectiveness of the ODA Community Relations activity and health, safety and environment site communications with workers.
	
		
			  Polling undertaken by ODA Transport 
			   Amount (£) 
			 2007-08 90,000.00 
			 2008-09 155,000.00 
			 2009-10 50,000.00 
		
	
	These figures are attributed to attitudinal and awareness research with businesses and Londoners to 2012 Games, events monitoring research, and research carried out at existing events across the UK to verify and align transport modelling assumptions and data.

Olympic Games 2012: Walsall South

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the likely effect on the economy of Walsall South constituency of the London 2012 Olympics.

Hugh Robertson: I have not made a specific assessment of the likely effect on the economy of the Walsall South constituency of the 2012 Games. However, Walsall South and the west midlands region stands to gain from the wide range of opportunities created by the 2012 Games, through businesses winning Games-related work, increased tourism and cultural celebrations.
	Information on businesses across the nations and regions that have won Olympic-
	related contracts directly supplying the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) or in the supply chains of its contractors is available in the business section of the London 2012 website under the heading ODA Suppliers, where you will be able to find suppliers listed by venue and sector:
	www.london2012.com/business
	Here you will also find information about how businesses in the area can access Olympic-related opportunities.
	You will also find information on the London 2012 website about other opportunities for the region to benefit economically, including pre-Games training camps:
	http://trainingcamps.london2012.com
	2012 sporting venues:
	http://www.london2012.com/games/olympic-sports/football.php
	and about the Nations and Regions Group, which aims to maximise the economic, as well as sporting and cultural, benefits of the Games in the West Midlands and across the UK:
	http://www.london2012.com/about-us/the-people-delivering-the-games/the-nations-and-regions-group/index.php

Radio: Broadcasting

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of continuing transmissions from FM radio transmitters in each year after 2015.

Hugh Robertson: The Government have made no specific assessment of the cost to the public purse of continuing FM transmission in each year after 2015. However, such considerations will form part of the Government Cost Benefit Analysis, details of which are set out in the Digital Radio Action Plan.

Radio: Broadcasting

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of replacing FM radios after the cessation of FM transmissions in 2015.

Hugh Robertson: No cost to the public purse is anticipated. The Government have suggested that 2015 should be a target date for a digital radio switchover, and if a target date is set, we have stated that FM broadcasting would continue for community and small-scale local stations, for as long as it is needed and is viable. Therefore consumers' FM radios would not become obsolete as a result of the switchover.
	The Digital Radio Action Plan sets out the Government's commitment to a comprehensive cost benefit analysis to examine the impact on both consumers and industry of a radio switchover.

Sports: Females

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to increase women's participation in physical activity and sport  (a) nationally and  (b) in Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency.

Hugh Robertson: Over the period 2009-12, Sport England plans to invest £480 million in the national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport to deliver increases in participation across different groups in society within their individual sports. In addition to this core funding, Sport England is investing in a £10 million Active Women initiative. This funding is aimed at helping women in disadvantaged communities and women caring for children under 16 to take part. Successful applicants will demonstrate the ability to increase participation for these two groups.
	Sport England are committed to continuing to help NGBs deliver and to push them to do as much as possible to deliver for less well represented groups in sport. In the particular case of women and girls; funded and supported by Sport England, the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation is actively engaged with all of the NGBs, working in a consultancy capacity to advise the individual NGBs on best practice for increasing women's participation in sport.
	The focus of Sport England funding is delivered through the national governing bodies of sport and as a result we do not break down our funding on a purely constituency basis. Investments have been made on the basis of each governing body's ability to increase the number of people playing and enjoying their sport, and to create development pathways for those with talent. Newcastle upon Tyne North, as well as other areas of the country will benefit directly from this investment.

DEFENCE

Animal Experiments

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how his Department ensures that the views of independent, external experts in ethics and animal welfare are considered under the local ethical review process within his Department's establishments designated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Peter Luff: Before any research work involving animals is undertaken, it is essential to establish that the use of animals is justified ethically as well as scientifically. Consequently, an ethical review is mandatory under the terms of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 before the Home Office will grant a licence for research involving animals. The Home Office also recommends that the ethical review process should include lay members who are independent of the work.
	To meet these requirements the Dstl ethical review process is conducted through meetings that are open to all members of Dstl staff working at the Porton Down site and has an independent chair. The meetings start with the licence holder presenting the work proposed and answering any questions. This is followed by a general discussion of the ethical issues, including the overall welfare of the animals, surrounding the work. The aim of the meeting is to arrive at a consensus as to whether it is reasonable ethically to carry out the work under discussion.
	The Home Office independent Animal Procedures Committee (APC) is responsible for monitoring compliance with animal welfare regulations. The MOD is confident that through the Home Office Inspectorate and the APC, the issues of animal welfare will be seriously considered and compliance with all extant regulations ensured.
	Dstl Porton Down operates in accordance with the principles of the three Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) and has an active programme to increase the implementation of the three Rs by exploring the use of non-living models in order to reduce the requirement for animal experimentation.
	Tissue and cell cultures, and physical or computer based modelling are used wherever it is possible and commensurate with good practice. However, where these alternatives are considered inadequate as a means of predicting human response, experiments on animals may be necessary.

Armed Forces

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the Chief of the General Staff's Briefing Team Report 2009.

Gerald Howarth: Yes. I shall place in the Library of the House a copy of the most recently published report, covering 2009, compiled by the Chief of the General Staffs Briefing Team.

Armed Forces: Training

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training is provided on the provisions of the Geneva Conventions to personnel of each rank of the  (a) Army,  (b) Royal Navy and  (c) Royal Air Force deployed to an area of conflict; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: In addition to annual Law of Armed Conflict training, all Service personnel are required to complete mandatory pre-deployment training. An element of these training activities is specific to the rules of engagement for a given location and the requirements and responsibilities for compliance with the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols. Service personnel will not be deployed to an area of conflict without knowing how they may engage an enemy and what international laws their actions are subject to.

Armed Forces: Training

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) military personnel and  (b) civilian members of his Department are engaged in the Early Training Transformation project on a (i) full-time and (ii) part-time basis; and whether the costs of these personnel are being attributed to the programme.

Nick Harvey: The information is not readily available as it is not collected in the format requested. It is not possible to break down the figures into military and civilian, because no distinction is made in the data capture.
	The number of personnel involved in the Early Training Transformation (ETT) process is estimated to be 108 staff, and their involvement varies from five to 60% of their working day for the duration of the course they are reviewing.

Armed Forces: Training

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what account he has taken in the Defence Training Review of lessons learnt from the private finance initiative project at the Defence Animal Centre.

Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence Private Finance Unit is responsible for the promulgation of specialist advice and guidance on private finance initiatives (PFI) across the Department. A key element of this support function is the ongoing identification of lessons learnt so that best practice is applied. Consequently the Defence Training Rationalisation Project continues to benefit from the very latest experience from PFI projects across Government, including that from the Defence Animal Centre project.

Departmental ICT

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which IT contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the monetary value of each such contract was.

Peter Luff: Information on IT contracts abandoned in each of the last five years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Under the ongoing ICT Project Review, one planned Ministry of Defence ICT contract has already been halted: The Land Information Architecture Office (IAO) project which had a projected through life cost of £4,765,000. The ICT Project Review continues to review other existing MOD ICT contracts.

Departmental Motor Vehicles

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expenditure on vehicles of  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in each region of England was in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is in each case for 2010-11.

Gerald Howarth: It is not possible to attribute Ministry of Defence expenditure on vehicles to English regions, as the information is not held centrally and to collate it would incur disproportionate cost. In England, Scotland and Wales, the MOD's fleet of administrative and other non-operational transport, commonly known as the White Fleet, is provided under a private finance initiative contract currently provided by Babcock Land (Whitefleet Management) Ltd. The combined expenditure in the last three financial years was:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Financial year  Leased vehicles  Short  t erm  h ires  Total (ex VAT) 
			 2007-08 64.67 37.36 102.03 
			 2008-09 65.16 39.29 104.45 
			 2009-10 69.06 38.50 107.56 
		
	
	These figures do not include hires through Government Procurement Cards, MOD Agencies, and non-departmental public bodies, as this falls outside the scope of the UK White Fleet contract. These details are not held centrally and-could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Different commercial arrangements exist in Northern Ireland where the majority of White Fleet is purchased rather than leased. Expenditure in the last three Financial Years was:
	
		
			  Financial year  Total  (£ million)  (ex VAT) 
			 2007-08 1.98 
			 2008-09 2.94 
			 2009-10 0.75 
		
	
	Information on leased vehicles in Northern Ireland is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	On current estimates, the forecast White Fleet expenditure for the current FY (2010-11) is expected to be similar to that for 2009-10. However, on current plans Project Phoenix is looking at how the MOD's White Fleet requirements could be provided in a more cohesive way in order to achieve value for money by, for example, including requirements for Northern Ireland and the mainland UK under one contract or making use of pan-government framework agreements. This work is unlikely to start before September 2011 and is dependent on the outcome of the SDSR.

Departmental Training

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many external training courses were attended by staff of his Department in the last 12 months; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such course.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence is dedicated to developing its staff by providing training and development opportunities to help employees realise their full potential and support the achievement of business objectives.
	External training costs are delegated to lower level budgets. As such, the information requested is not held centrally and would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Trident

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what account he has taken of the US administration's recent decision on nuclear warhead production in his assessment of future UK warhead requirements; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The UK's deterrent has always been, and remains, operationally independent of the US.
	Under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement the UK and US communicate closely about nuclear matters and we have noted the recent US decision to cancel the Reliable Replacement Warhead programme. As yet no decisions have been taken on whether to refurbish or replace the UK's nuclear warhead.

Trident

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the decision on the UK's future nuclear warheads is due to be taken during the present Parliament; and whether he plans to announce to Parliament the estimated cost of warhead  (a) replacement and  (b) refurbishment as part of the Trident value for money review.

Nick Harvey: The Trident value for money study is considering the future nuclear deterrent's programme timetable. No decisions have been taken on whether to refurbish or replace the UK's nuclear warhead. The 2006 White Paper 'Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent' (Cm6994) set out the initial cost estimate of replacing or refurbishing the UK's nuclear warhead as £2-3 billion at 2006-07 prices. On current plans, we will be in a position to release more up to date cost estimates later this year after the project has passed Initial Gate approval point.

Tyres

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies take into account rolling resistance as a performance criterion when purchasing tyres.

Peter Luff: The Ministry of Defence's vehicles are fitted with tyres as recommended by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Their recommendation results from their experience and exhaustive testing to ensure that vehicles meet with legislative and user requirements. The rolling resistance as a performance criterion is taken into account in some, but not all, instances by the OEM, as other vital criteria such as load carrying capacity, vehicle speed, terrain and/or climatic conditions, as well as whole life cost and anticipated life, are equally, if not more important.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Internet

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 20 July 2010,  Official Report, column 248W on departmental internet, if he will publish  (a) the options considered for translation of the content of the Your Freedom website into other languages and  (b) the reason given for not proceeding with each option.

Nicholas Clegg: Three potential options were considered for translating the content of Your Freedom in to other languages. Firstly, re-architecting the current system, so that it can handle multiple languages. This would mean that users could view a translated version of the site that would mirror the current site but would not translate any user generated content. While this was the best option in terms of giving equal experience to English and other language speakers, because it would involve significant changes to an off-the-shelf-product, the costs were prohibitive at £120, 000 (more than 37 times the cost of the original Your Freedom application).
	Secondly, we looked at producing a static page to the existing site copy in other languages and a box into which comments/ideas could be entered. This would have ensured that ideas and comments of those submitting in other languages were gathered. However, the cost of this option was disproportionate at £1, 800 per language, or more than 50% the cost of the original application.
	Thirdly, we considered incorporating a sentence of copy at the bottom of the home page text, linking people to a freely-available online translation tool. While cost-free, none of the tools available was judged to be sufficiently accurate.
	Having considered options for translation of the content, it was decided that a better approach would be to enable users to submit ideas, which could then be. translated before passing on to officials working on processing and evaluating contributions. At the moment, this option is only available to Welsh speakers. Translation is being provided by the Wales Office.

EDUCATION

Children: Day Care

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many childcare places there were  (a) in each county in the East of England and  (b) nationwide in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009; and how many such places there have been in each area in 2010 to date.

Sarah Teather: Information on the number of registered child care places available in England and in each local authority in the east of England Government office region for 2007 to 2010 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Table: Number( 1)  of registered child care places( 2)  for children under eight years of age, east of England Government office region, position at 31 March each year, 2007 to 2010 
			   2007  2008  2009  2010 
			 England 1,551,100 1,549,100 1,346,100 1,309,900 
			  
			 East of England(3) 169,900 168,600 146,200 143,800 
			  
			 Bedford Borough(4) n/a n/a n/a 4,100 
			 Bedfordshire(4) 13,100 13,400 10,500 n/a 
			 Cambridgeshire 21,200 20,700 18,600 18,100 
			 Central Bedfordshire(4) n/a n/a n/a 6,300 
			 City of Peterborough 7,400 7,400 6,000 5,700 
			 Essex 36,800 36,100 32,400 32,800 
			 Hertfordshire 36,400 36,600 33,700 32,400 
			 Luton 5,100 4,900 4,500 4,400 
			 Norfolk 21,500 21,100 17,200 16,900 
			 Southend-on-Sea 4,700 4,800 4,200 4,100 
			 Suffolk 20,000 20,000 15,500 15,700 
			 Thurrock 3,700 3,500 3,400 3,300 
			 (1 )Figures rounded to the nearest 100. (2 )Data Source: Ofsted-total includes child minders, child care on non-domestic premises, child care on domestic premises and home child carer. (3 )Total may not add up to sum of constituent parts due to rounding. (4 )Bedfordshire local authority split into Bedford borough and central Bedfordshire on 1 April 2009.

Class Sizes

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the teacher to pupil ratio was in each school in Bedford constituency in each of the last five years; and what the average teacher to pupil ratio was in England in each of those years.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the pupil:teacher ratio in each local authority maintained school in Bedford constituency and in England in each January, 2005 to 2009, .the latest information available. School level figures for 2010 are expected to become available in August 2010.
	
		
			  Pupil:teacher ratios (PTR)( 1) ,( 2)  in local authority maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools( 3) : Each January 2005-10( 4) -Coverage: Bedford parliamentary constituency and England 
			Pupil:teacher ratios 
			  LAEstab  School n ame  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010( 4) 
			  England overall PTR(5) 17.4 17.2 17.1 16.9 16.8 16.7 
			 
			  Nursery:
			 6201000 Cherry Trees Nursery School 19.0 18.8 25.0 19.6 17.8 n/a 
			 8201003 Southway Early Childhood Centre 32.9 15.0 26.0 25.2 18.5 n/a 
			 8201009 Peter Pan Nursery School 17.0 18.1 17.0 18.0 18.6 n/a 
			  England nursery PTR 16.5 16.3 16.8 16.3 16.5 16.2 
			 
			  Primary:
			 8202006 Livingstone Lower School 22.3 23.6 22.7 18.3 18.4 n/a 
			 8202007 Edith Cavell Lower School 25.5 25.5 25.6 20.4 19.6 n/a 
			 8202008 Goldington Green Lower School 24.5 23.3 22.1 20.8 22.5 n/a 
			 8202009 Castle Lower School 27.1 28.0 25.0 24.1 23.3 n/a 
			 8202013 Priory Lower School 19.3 18.3 17.4 18.3 22.5 n/a 
			 8202014 Queen's Park Lower School (6)- (6)- 26.3 28.2 24.3 n/a 
			 8202045 Elstow Lower School 23.3 23.4 32.4 23.4 22.9 n/a 
			 8202061 Bedford Road Lower School 21.7 21.2 23.5 24.8 25.2 n/a 
			 8202062 Camestone Lower School 23.1 23.0 24.4 25.5 25.7 n/a 
			 8202064 Balliol Lower School 24.1 23.9 21.6 21.5 19.7 n/a 
			 8202147 Putnoe Lower School 25.5 25.8 22.6 20.9 20.0 n/a 
			 8202156 Stephenson Lower School 22.8 22.1 19.9 23.2 20.8 n/a 
			 8202163 Brickhill Lower School 24.6 23.3 24.1 26.2 27.5 n/a 
			 8202173 Hazeldene Lower School 29.1 26.5 21.2 24.4 23.3 n/a 
			 8202178 The Hills Lower School 25.7 25.2 27.1 24.8 24.5 n/a 
			 8202183 Scott Lower School 21.2 22.0 21.0 20.3 20.5 n/a 
			 8202186 Springfield LowerSchool 24.6 21.9 22.1 21.2 25.7 n/a 
			 8202211 Shackleton Lower School 19.9 18.3 25.6 20.1 20.9 n/a 
			 8202294 Cauldwell Lower School 27.0 24.8 20.0 24.1 21.0 n/a 
			 8203342 St Joseph's RC Lower School 29.1 27.0 28.8 26.9 24.5 n/a 
			 6203350 St John Rigby RC VA Lower School 26.6 26.7 27.4 23.1 22.7 n/a 
			  England primary PTR 22.5 22.0 21.8 21.6 21.4 21.3 
			 
			  Secondary:
			 8204000 Goldinglon Middle School 19.6 19.9 19.6 19.4 20.4 n/a 
			 8204047 Robert Bruce Middle School 23.0 20.9 18.7 20.1 17.7 n/a 
			 8204050 Newnham Middle School 21.9 22.9 21.4 20.1 21.8 n/a 
			 8204064 Hastingsbury Upper School and Community College 17.9 18.0 16.7 17.0 17.1 n/a 
			 8204072 Westfield Middle School 19.1 17.2 20.5 18.7 17.4 n/a 
			 8204081 John Bunyan Upper School 18.2 22.4 22.6 17.1 14.6 n/a 
			 8204085 Mark Rutherford Upper School and Community College 14.6 16.3 17.7 17.4 15.2 n/a 
			 8204098 Daubeney Middle School 18.7 19.1 20.9 18.2 19.8 n/a 
			 8204118 Woodside Middle School 17.4 15.8 15.0 16.0 18.1 n/a 
			 8204126 Beauchamp Middle School 18.7 17.8 20.7 17.9 20.7 n/a 
			 8204127 Harrowden Middle School 25.0 23.4 20.7 28.2 25.1 n/a 
			 8204605 St Thomas More Catholic School 18.1 17.6 17.6 18.2 17.5 n/a 
			 8204607 St Bede's Catholic Middle School 21.1 19.3 (6)- (6)- (6)- (6)- 
			  England secondary PTR 16.7 16.6 16.5 16.1 15.9 15.7 
			 
			  Special:
			 8207005 Grange School 8.4 9.6 8.6 8.3 8.2 n/a 
			 8205951 St John's School 8.4 7.5 8.0 6.6 7.2 n/a 
			 8207012 Ridgeway School 7.4 7.3 8.5 8.0 8.6 n/a 
			  England special PTR 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.2 6.1 
			 n/a = not available (1) For statistical purposes only, pupils who do not attend both morning and afternoon at least five days a week are regarded as part-time. Each part-lime pupil is treated as 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE). (2) The within-school PTR is calculated by dividing the total FTE number of pupils on roll in schools by the total FTE number of qualified teachers regularly employed in schools. (3) There are no city technology colleges or academies in Bedford constituency. (4 )Provisional. (5) The overall PTR is based on the total FTE number of pupils on roll in local authority maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools and the FTE of all teachers in these schools (including: centrally employed; occasional teachers; those on employment based routes to QTS; others without GTS, those on paid absence and any replacements). The teacher numbers are from the 618g survey. (6) Not applicable.  Source: School Census

Departmental Public Expenditure

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department plans to reduce its expenditure through the termination of  (a) area-based and  (b) other targeted grants.

Nick Gibb: Details of the reductions the Department of Education has made to the area based grant and other targeted grants to local authorities as a result of its contribution to the £6.2 billion worth of saving in 2010-11 are set out in the Secretary of State's letter of 16 June 2010 to directors of Children's Services. A copy of that letter is available at the following website.
	http://www.education.gov.uk/news/news/~/media/Files/lacuna/news/LetterDCS16June2010v2.ashx.
	The Secretary of State also wrote to directors of Children's Services on 14 July 2010 setting out details of the capital grants to local authorities that are being reduced in 2010-11. These reductions were as a result of the Treasury's announcement on 5 July 2010, that Departments had to address unrealistic inherited spending commitments for 2010-11, where funding was reliant on under spends through the end year flexibility system. A copy of that letter is available at the following website.
	http://www.education.gov.uk/news/news/~/media/Files/lacuna/news/SoStoDCSs.ashx.
	Details of the funding available for 2011-12 onwards will be discussed and agreed as part of the current spending review .

Drugs: Misuse

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effects on young people of the illegal use of ketamine.

Sarah Teather: The Government obtain expert medical advice to ensure that our information for young people is accurate and credible. The advice provided to health professionals and young people on Ketamine includes the information on the FRANK website, public health updates and advice provided in leaflets. These are reviewed and approved by the Department of Health.
	Ketamine was made a Class C controlled substance in 2006 following a report and recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Substances controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act are kept under review.
	Among 11 to 15-year-olds, 0.6% report having used Ketamine in the last year. This is compared to 1.7% of 16 to 24-year-olds.

Extracurricular Activities

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect on the provision of  (a) homework clubs,  (b) breakfast clubs,  (c) after school activities and  (d) school music of reductions in the levels of area-based grants.

Sarah Teather: Local authorities should be able to achieve the necessary savings through efficiencies across their budgets rather than cuts to frontline services. The Area Based Grant is a form of funding where the Department makes specific allocations to local authorities, but where local authorities have flexibility about how they spend it.
	The ring-fenced Music Grant in the Standards Fund is not part of the Area Based Grant, and is not affected by the wider decision to remove ring-fencing from funds that go to local authorities. The Area Based Grant includes start up funding for extended services through schools-which can include homework clubs, breakfast clubs, and after school activities. The start-up funding is intended to support the co-ordination and advice provided by local authorities that has enabled schools to develop access to extended services. In practice 98% of schools are now providing access to these services, and so there is less need for the start-up funding.

Financial Services: Education

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will assess the merits of including in the national curriculum  (a) practical financial management and  (b) awareness of marketing.

Nick Gibb: The Government announced on 7 June our intention to make changes to the National Curriculum. We intend to restore the National Curriculum to its original purpose-a core national entitlement organised around subject disciplines. We plan to consult a wide range of academics, teachers and other interested parties to ensure that the core curriculum can compare with those of the highest performing countries in the world. Further details will be announced in due course.

Free School Meals

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will estimate the number of pupils in  (a) England,  (b) the West Midlands and  (c) Dudley borough who would have been eligible for a free school meal under the proposal in the Pre-Budget Report 2009 to extend the eligibility criteria.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) on 27 July 2010,  Official Report, column 1215W.

GCSE: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of pupils entered for GCSEs by each school in the Peterborough Local Education Authority area obtained no GCSEs at grades A* to C in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The proportions of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4, entering the equivalent of at least one full GCSE, that did not pass the equivalent of one GCSE at grade A*-C are presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 John Mansfield School 36.4 25.2 (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 Walton Community School 27.6 22.3 (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 Hereward Community College 18.2 28.1 (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 Bretton Woods Community School 42.3 28.9 (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 Bushfield Community College 34.5 32.0 27.1 25.0 26.5 
			 Ken Stimpson Community School 25.0 30.8 20.6 19.9 17.3 
			 Hampton College (2)- (2)- (2)- (2)- 3.2 
			 The Voyager School (1)- (1)- (2)- 36.5 33.1 
			 The King's School 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.8 0.8 
			 Jack Hunt School 14.8 17.4 20.4 13.3 17.3 
			 Deacon's School 1.9 1.2 (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 Stanground College 32.1 21.4 19.4 17.4 6.8 
			 St John Fisher Catholic High School 31.0 21.0 26.1 28.3 17.1 
			 Orton Longueville School 25.5 21.1 23.1 24.0 22.7 
			 Arthur Mellows Village College 10.5 6.9 7.0 1.3 0.4 
			 Peterborough High School 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Thomas Deacon Academy (1)- (1)- (2)- 2.7 4.2 
			 Ormiston Bushfield Academy (2)- (2)- (2)- (2)- (2)- 
			 Marshfields School 100.0 90.9 87.0 84.0 76.9 
			 Heltwate School (2)- (2)- (2)- (2)- (2)- 
			 The Causeway School (2)- (2)- (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 The Phoenix School (2)- (2)- (2)- (2)- (2)- 
			 (1 )School is not published as part of the Achievement and Attainment Tables. (2) School has fewer than 11 pupils that entered the equivalent of at least one GCSE so data has been suppressed to guard against individual identification.  Source: Achievement and Attainment Tables data

Headteachers

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department provides on measures to retain experienced head teachers.

Nick Gibb: We are making headship more attractive by reducing red tape, giving head teachers more autonomy to run schools and empowering head teachers to maintain discipline.
	The age profile indicates that the number of head teachers retiring will increase in the near future. In 2008 59%(1) of head teachers in the maintained sector were aged 50 and over compared to 50% in 2000.
	In the light of this we need both to retain experienced head teachers and ensure that we have a sufficient supply of good quality school leaders for the future.
	To secure this we support:
	(i) roles such as the National Leaders of Education which provide opportunities for the best and most experienced heads to take on new roles to bring about system wide improvement.
	(ii) reforms made to the Teachers' Pension Scheme which have given heads more flexibility to phase their retirement.
	(1) Database of Teachers Records (data for 2007 and 2008 are provisional)

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether all funding from his Department to assist children from more deprived backgrounds will be routed through the pupil premium.

Nick Gibb: The current school funding system already includes funding to assist pupils from deprived backgrounds. The targeting of that funding is, however, flawed and insufficiently transparent. We intend to introduce a pupil premium for disadvantaged pupils. On 26 July 2010, the Secretary of State for Education, announced in a written ministerial statement, the launch of a consultation on the introduction of the premium. In that consultation, we have said that for 2011-12 we intend to continue with the current methodology for the distribution of school funding to allow for a clear and transparent introduction of the pupil premium. We also recognise, however, that the funding system should more accurately reflect pupil characteristics and so we intend to review the system for funding schools beyond 2011-12.

Schools: Databases

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many open maintained primary and secondary schools in England were on the edubase database on 25 May 2010.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 22 July 2010
	The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			  Schools in England 
			   Local authority maintained  Academies 
			 Primary 17,023 - 
			 Secondary 3,135 - 
			 Total 20,158 203 
			  Notes: 1. The figures represented in this table do not include Special Schools. 2. The table includes Academies because this type of establishment receives state funding from the Government.  Source: EduBase2

Schools: Science

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department plans to take to assist school science departments to work together with high technology employers in their areas.

Nick Gibb: I refer my hon. Friend to the response given to my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris) on 14 July 2010,  Official Report, column 773W.

Schools: Special Educational Needs

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many statutory assessments for a statement of special educational needs were undertaken in each local education authority in England in 2009; and how many resulted in a child being statemented.

Sarah Teather: Information on the number of children assessed for special educational needs and the number of children for whom statements were made for the first time during the calendar year is published in the Statistical First Release, "Special Educational Needs in England, January 2010":
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000939/index.shtml
	table 20.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Boilers: Government Assistance

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to reduce the time between receipt and acknowledgement of applications made under the boiler scrappage scheme; what steps he plans to take to reduce the time taken between application and issuing payments under the scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: Applications to the Boiler Scrappage scheme closed on 26 March 2010. An automated response was produced to acknowledge applications.
	The number of valid vouchers yet to be claimed is 24. There are fewer than 200 claims, or less than 0.2%, which have yet to be paid. These are mainly outstanding claims where we have requested additional information before we will be able to make the payment. The Energy Saving Trust who deliver the scheme are acting within advertised service standards to pay monies on receipt of a valid claim within five weeks. Their guidance notes that it some cases it will take a little longer for the payments to go through and appear on bank statements.

Departmental Billing

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in July and August 2010.

Gregory Barker: The percentage of invoices paid by the Department within 10 days of receipt in July 2010 was 99.1% and 99.0% in August 2010.

Departmental Fines

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many transport-related fines his Department has settled on behalf of its staff in each year since 2005; and what the cost to the public purse was in each year.

Gregory Barker: Departmental policy is that the driver of the vehicle is responsible for following all advice, guidance and legislation in relation to road safety and is therefore also responsible for meeting the cost of any fines incurred (including parking fines), as a result of any driving offence. The Department will not meet those costs.

Fuel Poverty

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to ensure that fuel regulators have adequate powers to reduce the level of fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: It is for Government to decide the strategy for tackling fuel poverty, and setting the framework for this to happen. Where Ofgem, as the independent regulator, have a role it is in using their monitoring and enforcement powers to ensure licensed energy companies comply with this framework.
	Under the Gas and Electricity Acts, Ofgem and the Secretary of State are required to have regard to the interests of certain groups of vulnerable consumers when carrying out their functions.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 29 July on the construction of a combined heat and power generation facility in that constituency.

Gregory Barker: The matter raised in the letter is the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government. The letter was transferred to and accepted by that Department on 17 August for reply.

Nuclear Power

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the proportion of new electricity generating capacity which should be met by new nuclear power capacity.

Charles Hendry: The UK needs a mix of all types of new electricity generating capacity, including new nuclear, in order to achieve energy security at the same time as dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
	It is for industry to propose the specific type of energy developments that they assess to be viable within the strategic framework established by Government. This is the nature of a market-led energy system and therefore the Government do not propose to set targets or limits on the amount of new nuclear power. Instead, it is Government policy that new nuclear power should be able to contribute as much as possible to the UK's need for new non-renewable electricity generation capacity.

Offshore Industry: Regulation

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to publish the rapid review of the implications of the Deepwater Horizon incident for his Department's offshore regulatory regime; when he plans to undertake a more comprehensive review of the matter; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Hendry: Following the Gulf of Mexico incident, and on the basis of the information available at that time, senior management in DECC conducted a rapid review of the implications for DECC's offshore regulatory regime.
	The recommendations made to me in the light of this initial review have already been acted upon. This was only the first stage in the review process and as such I do not intend publishing any material. However, as stated in the Annual Energy Statement, a further review will be carried out as soon as the more precise and detailed findings from the Gulf of Mexico investigations have been released (currently anticipated early 2011). This will enable us to determine what more, if anything, needs to be done to reinforce further our regulatory approach and keep our safety regime as one of the most robust in the world. The findings from this review will be published.

Renewables Obligation

Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has for the future of the Renewables Obligation scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Hendry: The coalition agreement makes clear our commitment to maintaining a banded Renewables Obligation, and not changing the ground rules for existing investments. We are also committed to implementing a full feed-in-tariff, with the aim of securing a significant increase in investment in renewables so that we can meet both the legally binding renewable energy-target in 2020, and our longer term decarbonisation objectives.
	We are still working through the details of such a feed-in-tarriff, any changes made to the support mechanism will be considered in light of wider electricity market reform.

Renewables Obligation

Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the timescale is for his Department's review of the Renewables Obligation scheme banding levels.

Gregory Barker: A banding review is scheduled to begin in October 2010 with changes to be introduced on 1 April 2013.

Torness Power Station

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will visit Torness Nuclear Power Station to discuss the role of nuclear power in contributing to security of energy supplies.

Charles Hendry: In my role as Energy Minister, it is my intention to visit a range of power stations, including nuclear power stations. I would be pleased to visit Torness nuclear power station at some point in the future.

Warm Front Scheme

Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has had on the Warm Front grant scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: DECC Ministers keep in regular contact with key stakeholders that have an interest in the Warm Front scheme.
	Funding for the scheme is just over £1.1 billion for the current three-year spending period to March 2011. This includes a cash provision of £345 million for 2010-11. Funding for future years will be considered as part of the budget and spending review processes.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Boilers: Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 July 2010,  Official Report, column 455W, on boilers: biofuels, if she will take steps to establish a full emissions profile for the use of B30K fuel in domestic boilers, including the emission of all air quality pollutants contained in her Department's air quality strategy.

Richard Benyon: The Department has no plans to establish a full emission profile for B30K.

Departmental Official Engagements

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what Ministerial commitments she has on 8 September 2010.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State will be holding meetings with Departmental officials and representatives from the water industry on 8 September.

Departmental Sponsorship

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what costs her Department incurred in connection with its sponsorship of the Environmental Innovation in Waste Collection Achievement of the Year award at the Municipal Journal Awards 2010 in respect of  (a) sponsoring the award,  (b) publicity in connection with sponsoring the award and  (c) travel, accommodation and subsistence for the cost of Ministers, staff or guests of her Department attending the award.

Richard Benyon: The Environmental Innovation In Waste Collection Achievement of the Year award was a commitment of the previous Government and was jointly sponsored with the Department for Communities and Local Government. The only charge to the Department was £11,750 including VAT which was paid to sponsor the award. The Department incurred no costs in relation to publicity, travel, accommodation or subsistence for Ministers, staff or guests.

Making Space for Nature Review

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library a copy of the report of Sir John Lawton's review of wildlife sites and ecological networks in England.

Richard Benyon: The independent review into England's network of wildlife sites 'Making Space for Nature' chaired by Professor Sir John Lawton is due to report later in September. I will arrange for a copy of the report to be placed in the Library.

Natural England: Planning

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much Natural England has spent on external legal advice on planning issues in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Richard Benyon: The figures provided in the following table represent the amount Natural England has paid for legal advice and representation in major casework (including, but not limited to, the provision of solicitors and legal counsel) plus other technical advice on interpretation of Government planning and other policy.
	Natural England commenced operations on 1 October 2006 and therefore comparative full year data for 2005-06 and 2006-07 cannot be provided.
	
		
			  Legal and planning advice 
			   £ 
			 2007-08 470,889 
			 2008-09 393,828 
			 2009-10 289,228

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Indian Ocean Territory: Fisheries

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress he has made in renegotiating the contract with the Marine Resources Assessment Group for management of fisheries in the Chagos Island.

Henry Bellingham: The current contract between the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Administration and MRAG Ltd for the provision of management of the British Indian Ocean Territory Fisheries Regime will expire on 31 May 2011.
	The BIOT Administration is considering requirements for any new contract which will be put out to tender.

British Overseas Territories: Environment Protection

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for the future funding of the Overseas Territories Environment programme.

Henry Bellingham: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr Hague) announced in his statement to the House on 29 June 2010,  Official Report, column 37WS, we will sustain in future years (resources permitting) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)'s programme spending in support of the Overseas Territories. The FCO's contribution to the joint FCO-Department for International Development Overseas Territories Environment programme is currently funded from the Overseas Territories Programme Fund. Further decisions will be taken once the outcome of the spending review is clear.

Burma: Human Rights

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had  (a) in international fora and  (b) with the Burmese regime on the rights of the Rohingya people in Burma.

Jeremy Browne: The UK is deeply concerned at the continuing ethnic, religious and political persecution endured by the Rohingya ethnic group in Burma. They are victims of widespread human rights violations including denial of citizenship, economic deprivation and restrictions on freedom of movement. I discussed the situation faced by ethnic groups, including the Rohingya, at an EU/ASEAN meeting on 26 May, at which the Burmese Foreign Minister was also present. At the end of July I travelled to South East Asia and raised our concerns about ethnic minorities in Burma with representatives from the Thai, Philippine and Indonesian governments. We also plan to raise the issue in the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council. Our ambassador in Rangoon repeatedly raises his concern at the discrimination and treatment of ethnic minorities with the Burmese regime and will continue to do so.

Burma: Prisoners

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Burmese military leadership on freeing  (a) Aung San Suu Kyi and  (b) other political prisoners.

Jeremy Browne: Aung San Suu Kyi and over 2,100 other political prisoners continue to be unjustly detained. Many prisoners are held in harsh conditions in remote locations far from their families. I raised Burma at the EU-ASEAN meeting on 26 May, at which the Burmese Foreign Minister was present. I made clear that the continued detention of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi was unacceptable. Our ambassador in Rangoon repeatedly raises the need for the release of all political prisoners, with ministers in the Burmese military government and will continue to do so.

Colombia: Human Rights

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of Colombia on human rights in that country.

Jeremy Browne: I represented the UK at the inauguration of President Juan Manuel Santos in August. I took the opportunity of a private meeting with the President and several of his Ministers on 9 August to urge more progress on human rights. I was encouraged by the President's commitment to make human rights a "non-issue" in Colombia. We welcome this renewed commitment and we will work with his administration towards this common end.
	During his visit to the UK as President-elect in July, Juan Manuel Santos stressed to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister his strong commitment to improving the human rights situation in Colombia.
	The human rights situation in Colombia is of significant concern. High levels of poverty and inequality, and the continued internal conflict fuelled by the cocaine trade, continue to undermine respect for human rights. Human rights defenders, including civil society activists, lawyers, trade unionists, journalists and religious leaders continue to suffer frequent violence and intimidation. We receive regular reports about human rights abuses committed by state security forces, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), illegal armed groups and criminal gangs. The high level of impunity exacerbates the problem.
	We will continue to regularly raise these concerns with senior Colombian Ministers, and continue to work with unions and employer organisations to strengthen labour relations in Colombia. We are also working with the UN on a research initiative to help improve trade union human rights protection and the development of positive labour relations. With the EU and other partners, we will continue to encourage a stronger relationship between the Colombian Government and Civil Society.

Indonesia: Religious Freedom

Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to promote inter-religious dialogue and co-operation in Indonesia.

Jeremy Browne: We, along with our EU partners, raise human rights concerns with the Indonesian Government and have pressed the authorities to ensure the rights of all religious minorities. We will continue to call for religious tolerance across Indonesia.
	At the UK's request, freedom of religion was included as a substantive item on the agenda of the first EU-Indonesia Human Rights Dialogue held in June 2010. The EU noted Indonesia's efforts in promoting interfaith dialogue and raised concerns over treatment of the Ahmadiyya community and recent attacks on Christians.

Indonesia: Religious Freedom

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on  (a) attacks on churches in Indonesia,  (b) restrictions on the construction of churches in that country and  (c) the revocation of licences for some existing churches.

Jeremy Browne: We are aware, through media and diplomatic reporting, of some incidents of churches being attacked, construction restrictions and licences being revoked. No representations have been made to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
	At the UK's request, freedom of religion was included as a substantive item on the agenda of the first EU-Indonesia Human Rights Dialogue held in June 2010. We, along with our EU partners, continue to raise human rights concerns with the Indonesian Government and have pressed the authorities to ensure the rights of all religious minorities. We will continue to call for religious tolerance across Indonesia.

Indonesia: Religious Freedom

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received on  (a) the effect on the demographics of Papua of migration from other parts of Indonesia and  (b) the effect of such migration on levels of religious harmony and freedom in Papua.

Jeremy Browne: We have received no independent reports on this issue.

Mexico: Climate Change

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take to work with the Government of Mexico on tackling climate change.

Jeremy Browne: The Government have prioritised working with Mexico on climate change. Our embassy in Mexico has an established team working on a wide range of political and practical co-operation, including projects to build domestic capacity in Mexico and promote opportunities for bilateral trade in low carbon sectors. Both my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I, and Ministers at the Department for Energy and Climate Change have discussed the climate change agenda with our Mexican opposite numbers. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for Climate Change, my hon. Friend Henry Bellingham, has also met with the Mexican Ambassador to the UK to discuss Climate Change. Further ministerial contact is planned in the months ahead.
	Mexico will host the next meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)-commonly referred to as the Conference of the Parties-COP 16 in Cancun in November this year. The UK and Mexico are fully supportive of ambitious global action to tackle climate change at the summit-and the UK is supporting Mexican preparations for Cancun both through support to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and through our diplomatic efforts to raise ambitions for a global deal.

Turkey: Human Rights

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the number of Kurdish children  (a) prosecuted and  (b) imprisoned in Turkey under that country's counter-terrorism legislation in the last 12 months.

David Lidington: The UK Government have not received figures reporting on the number of Kurdish children prosecuted and imprisoned under Turkish anti-terror legislation. In July, the Turkish Parliament passed an amendment to the anti-terror law which gives children greater protection in the judicial system.

Turkey: Human Rights

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether officials of his Department observed the recent trial of Ismail Besikci, Zeycan Balci Simsek and Selcuck Kozagacli in Turkey.

David Lidington: There were no UK or EU observers present at the trial of Ismail Besikci, Zeycan Balci Simsek and Selcuck Kozagacli.

Turkey: Human Rights

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Prime Minister has received from  (a) the government of Turkey and  (b) Turkish citizens resident in the UK in respect of the treatment in that country of Kurds not involved in PKK violent actions.

David Lidington: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has received no representations from the Government of Turkey in respect of the treatment of Kurds in Turkey. However, the British Government regularly discusses this issue with the Turkish Government in the context of Turkey's EU accession negotiations. Turkish citizens resident in the UK sometimes write to their MPs to voice their various concerns, but we have no record of receiving correspondence specifically relating to this issue.

HEALTH

Antibiotics

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the NDM-1 enzyme on public health; and what steps he is taking to reduce those effects.

Anne Milton: So far 60 patients with bacteria producing the New Delhi metallo-6-lactamase (NDM) enzyme have been identified in the United Kingdom by the Health Protection Agency. Bacteria with the NDM enzyme do not appear to be a major immediate threat to public health but are a concern because they are resistant to nearly all antibiotics, including the carbapenems, which are commonly used against infections due to multi-resistant bacteria.
	As resistant bacteria with NDM and other similarly-broad resistances can spread rapidly and compromise hospital care, guidance highlighting the importance of early identification and reporting of cases and the need for increased awareness and infection control was issued in January and July 2009. The Health Protection Agency and our advisory committee ARHAI (Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection) are keeping the situation under close review and will advise of any further action as necessary.

Blood: Contamination

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of screening processes for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in blood and blood products; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: At present, there are no validated blood screening tests for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease on the market. The Department, together with the UK blood services, continues to monitor scientific research and development in this area.
	The Department is aware of other companies and academic institutions which are attempting to develop tests. A process, which involves the UK Blood Services and the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO), has been established to review test development and advise Health Departments. Unfortunately, the development of a test with appropriate sensitivity and specificity is proving technically difficult.

Blood: Contamination

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons there is a difference in the level of payments for haemophiliac patients infected with HIV by contaminated blood or blood products and those infected with hepatitis C; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The difference between the ex gratia payment schemes for HIV and hepatitis C reflect the different times when they were set up. When the Macfarlane and Eileen Trusts, which make payments to individuals infected with HIV by contaminated NHS blood and blood products, were established, there was no effective antiretroviral drug treatment for HIV to prevent progression to AIDS, and life expectancy was short. When the Skipton Fund, which makes ex gratia payments to people infected with hepatitis C from NHS treatment with blood, blood products or tissue, was set up in 2004, there were already the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommended drug treatments for hepatitis C available.
	Nevertheless we are currently looking at the needs and wishes of those who have been infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C by NHS supplied contaminated blood and blood products. I have recently held a series of meetings with the Chairs of the Macfarlane and Eileen Trusts and the Skipton Fund, as well as representatives of the campaign groups and other affected individuals, to gather information and evidence. We intend to report the outcome of this work by the end of this year.

Blood: Contamination

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the merits of the provisions of the Contaminated Blood (Support for Infected and Bereaved Persons) Bill [Lords].

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the report of the Archer Inquiry on contaminated blood and blood products which were accepted;
	(2)  what timescale he has set for the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Archer Inquiry on contaminated blood and blood products which were accepted.

Anne Milton: Lord Archer's report was published in February 2009. A number of the recommendations were either already in place in one form or another, or have since been implemented. The Contaminated Blood (Support for Infected and Bereaved Persons) Bill, which has been introduced into the House of Lords, largely replicates the recommendations of Lord Archer's report. The Government therefore do not believe that legislation is necessary.
	We are currently looking at the needs and wishes of those who have been infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C by NHS supplied contaminated blood and blood products. I have recently held a series of meetings with the Chairs of the Macfarlane and Eileen Trusts and the Skipton Fund, as well as representatives of campaign groups and other affected individuals, to gather information and evidence. We intend to report the outcome of this work by the end of this year.

Blood: Contamination

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of levels of payment made to those affected by contaminated blood and blood products.

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the merits of introducing annual payments for haemophiliac patients who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated blood or blood products similar to those for patients who contracted HIV.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 June 2010,  Official Report, column 516W, on blood: contamination, when he expects to decide on his policy on equalising the level of payments made by the Skipton Fund and the Macfarlane Trust for people infected by contaminated blood and blood products.

Anne Milton: We are currently looking at the needs and wishes of those who have been infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C by NHS supplied contaminated blood and blood products. I have recently held a series of meetings with the chairs of the Macfarlane and Eileen Trusts and the Skipton Fund, as well as representatives of the campaign groups and other affected individuals, to gather information and evidence. We intend to report the outcome of this work by the end of this year.

Continuing Care

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the criteria set for continuous health care; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The eligibility criteria for continuing healthcare, published in National Framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care July 2009, were revised following a review process where issues were raised by health and social care professionals, key stakeholders and members of the public.
	The Department continues to receive correspondence on the eligibility criteria for continuing healthcare from Members of Parliament, members of the public and their legal representatives.

Departmental Consultants

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in each year since 2005.

Simon Burns: The expenditure on external consultants and advisers by the Department is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Organisation  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Department of Health 133,000 205,000 132,000 121,300 (1)- 
			 (1) Figure awaiting publication Note: The figure for 2009-10 is currently being validated and will be released in due course. 
		
	
	The expenditure on external consultants and advisers by each of the Department's executive non-departmental public bodies and its executive agency is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Organisation  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence 978 573 519 693 501 
			 General Social Care Council 202 107 23 76 45 
			 Monitor 8,584 5,141 2,497 2,873 2,989 
			 Appointments Commission 57 0 85 108 62 
			 Alcohol Education and Research Council 0 0 0 0 28 
			 Care Quality Commission - - - - 9,068 
			 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 261 388 816 1354 360 
			 Health Protection Agency 194 168 197 420 189 
			 Human Tissue Authority 18 111 305 305 312 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (Executive Agency) 2,135 1,125 801 1,178 340

Departmental Training

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many external training courses were attended by staff of his Department in the last 12 months; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such course.

Simon Burns: Information is not held centrally about which and how many external training courses were attended by staff in the Department. Decisions on external training courses for staff are made locally, by directorates. To collect such information would incur disproportionate cost.

Doctors: Training

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve the quality of training for doctors.

Anne Milton: The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is the competent authority for medical training in the United Kingdom. Its role is that of custodian of quality standards in medical education and practice.
	Since the publication of the White Paper, "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS", the Department has been working to develop a new system to deliver education and training based on the principle that it should be driven by healthcare provider decisions and underpinned by strong clinical leadership. A public consultation is planned for later this year.

Health Inequalities Unit: Awards

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what costs the Health Inequalities Unit incurred in connection with its sponsorship of the Reducing Health Inequalities Achievement of the Year award at the Municipal Journal Awards 2010 in respect of  (a) sponsoring the award,  (b) publicity in connection with sponsoring the award and  (c) travel, accommodation and subsistence payments to Ministers of his Department or staff or guests of the Health Inequalities Unit of his Department attending the award.

Anne Milton: The Municipal Journal Reducing Health Inequalities Achievement of the Year Award 2010 was sponsored by the Department under the previous Government.
	The cost of sponsoring the award was £19,995 excluding VAT, which was paid to the Hemming Group Ltd. The Department's Health Inequalities Unit incurred no travel, accommodation or subsistence costs for Ministers, staff or guests. The award will not be sponsored in 2011.

Health Professions: Training

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on ringfencing of funding for multi-professional education and training.

Anne Milton: The multi-professional education and training budget is allocated to strategic health authorities to fund investment in the training and development of the health care work force, including costs of clinical placements, tuition fees and student support. The funding is not ring fenced although the Department has an annual service level agreement with each strategic health authority that sets out the outcomes expected from the investment.

Health Professions: Training

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with  (a) the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and  (b) the Higher Education Funding Council for England on proposals to transfer funding for multi-professional education and training to the Higher Education Funding Council for England;
	(2)  what criteria will apply to determine the amount of multi-professional education and training funding to be transferred from each strategic health authority (SHA) to successor bodies when SHAs are abolished;
	(3)  which organisations will have responsibility for multi-professional education and training funding following the abolition of strategic health authorities.

Anne Milton: "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS" set out the principles for the future arrangements for education and training. The Department will publish proposals for consultation later this year. This will include proposals on the future management of multi-professional education and training funding. In developing these proposals, the Department has held exploratory discussions with a number of organisations including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The purpose of this discussion was to understand how other areas of higher education are funded to inform the development of proposals.

Health: Disadvantaged

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to improve the health of residents in the most deprived areas.

Anne Milton: We expect to publish a White Paper on public health later this year. This will outline the Government's plans for establishing the new public health service, and it will also map a cross-Government strategy on public health that will be taken forward in the future.
	The Government have made it clear that tackling health inequalities is a priority. Improving equity and fairness is a theme of this Government. Everyone should have the same opportunities to lead a healthy life, no matter where they live or who they are.
	The White Paper, "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS", published on 12 July 2010, announced the establishment of an independent and accountable National Health Service Commissioning Board. The board will have an explicit duty to tackle inequalities in health care access and outcomes.
	This White Paper also announced plans for the new public health service that will have an important role in reducing inequalities in health. The public health budget will be ring-fenced and allocated to reflect relative population health outcomes, with a new "health premium" to promote action to reduce health inequalities. We will therefore create a service that both recognises the impact of deprivation and rewards improvement, providing further incentives to reduce inequalities in health.

Health: Information

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contribution he expects information prescriptions to make to the healthcare information revolution.

Paul Burstow: The Department is committed to ensuring that patients have the information they need to make choices and to take greater control of making decisions about their care and well-being.
	Information prescriptions are an important contribution to this, providing a mechanism for patients to access the information they need, when they need it most. Information prescriptions contain information and signposts to further sources of advice and support, such as local patient groups and self-management programmes, access to benefits and social care services. The contents of an information prescription are tailored to each patient's individual needs, through discussions with health and social care professionals.
	The Information Prescriptions Service
	www.nhs.uk/ips
	has recently been launched to give health and care professionals easy access to NHS information alongside quality-assured information from Britain's leading charities.
	We will publish details of further developments in our information strategy in the autumn.

Mental Health Services

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of psychological therapies by each primary care trust in each year from 2000 to 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: Psychological therapy services are organised at a local level and commissioners in primary care trusts (PCTs) determine their provision. They have a duty to consider the level of local need, through joint strategic needs assessments and commission services to meet this need.
	We do not hold information centrally about the level and nature of provision of psychological therapies in the national health service for the period 2000-10. We do, however, have information about the provision of services to treat mild to moderate anxiety and depression, as organised under the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme since 2006. The programme aims to improve access to evidence based talking therapies in the NHS through an expansion of the psychological therapy workforce and service.
	114 PCTs across England, providing access to around 60%, of the population in England, have already established IAPT services and more the 2,500 therapists have already joined (and completed) the IAPT training programme.
	Services are designed to meet local need and to date:
	932,283 people have been referred to psychological therapy services;
	324,550 people entered IAPT services;
	177,786 people have completed treatment;
	57,255 people have moved to recovery; and
	8,363 people have moved off sick pay and benefits.

Mental Health Services: Older People

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultants specialising in old age psychiatry there are in each primary care trust; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The requested information is not collected centrally.

NHS: Reorganisation

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the letter issued on 13 July 2010 by the NHS chief executive, what estimate he has made of his Department's expenditure in each cost category on the proposed reorganisation of the NHS.

Simon Burns: The White Paper "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS" laid out proposals for fundamental changes to the ways that the national health service is structured and run. These changes were described in the letter of the NHS chief executive on 13 July 2010. The precise costs of the transition to the new system will not be known until the new organisations that will underpin the new system have been designed in more detail.
	A number of consultations on how the new organisations should be designed are being published, and once the results of these are known we will publish the costs of the new system in an impact assessment.

NHS: Training

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated for multi-professional education and training to each strategic health authority in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11 and  (c) 2011-12.

Anne Milton: The Multi Professional Education and Training (MPET) budget allocations to strategic health authorities (SHAs) in 2009-10 and 2010-11 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  MPET budget allocated to SHAs 
			  £000 
			   2009-10  2010-11 
			 NHS North East 253,184 259,613 
			 NHS North West 663,787 688,434 
			 NHS Yorkshire and the Humber 487,592 498,824 
			 NHS East Midlands 359,159 371,517 
			 NHS West Midlands 481,489 493,815 
			 NHS East of England 362,862 375,139 
			 NHS London 1,084,937 1,112,755 
			 NHS South East Coast 260,108 271,104 
			 NHS South Central 308,271 314,111 
			 NHS South west 385,075 396,493 
			 England total 4,646,463 4,781,806 
		
	
	No budget has yet been calculated or allocated for 2011-12.

Nutrition

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the name of each organisation that took part in the Healthy Food Marks pilots is.

Anne Milton: 78 public sector organisations took part in two pilot phases (October to December 2009 and February to July 2010) for the Healthier Food Mark project. The names of these organisations are available on the Healthier Food Mark website at:
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_114781

School Milk

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Healthy Start scheme.

Anne Milton: A rapid evaluation of the scheme's early impact in Devon and Cornwall was carried out in early 2006 and informed the scheme's national roll out in November of that year.
	The Department has recently commissioned an assessment of the scheme's nutritional impact through the Diet and Nutrition Survey of Infants and Young Children which focuses on measuring the nutritional status of children aged 4-18 months. Sampling work will begin this year and results are expected to be completed by autumn 2012.
	Two further research projects on the broader impact of Healthy Start have been commissioned from the university of Bristol and the university of York. These will explore in particular how vouchers are used and the time scale, though still under discussion, is expected to be expected to completed by autumn 2012.

Self-harm: Health Services

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will bring forward proposals to increase provision of services for people who  (a) repeatedly self-harm and  (b) self-harm and are diagnosed with a personality disorder; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will commission research into the provision of a dedicated self-harm service as part of the NHS; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what his latest estimate is of the incidence of self-harm among older people; and if he will commission research on the reasons for such self-harm;
	(4)  what steps he is taking to reduce the number of older people who  (a) attempt and  (b) commit suicide;
	(5)  if he will take steps to improve NHS treatment of depression in older people; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: Suicide, attempted suicide and intentional self-harm are almost always symptoms of a complex mix of problems like mental illness, personality disorder, social exclusion and poverty. Reducing them is a priority. Equally, we recognise that more needs to be done to reduce the inequality currently experienced by many older people trying to access mental health services and receiving care. We have recently announced that, in the months ahead, we will reshape mental health strategy. The issues of self-harm, suicide and of eliminating discrimination in services for older people experiencing mental health problems will be considered as part of that strategy.

Smoking

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to create an offence of smoking in cars where children are present.

Anne Milton: We have no plans to extend the smokefree law to private vehicles. Many families are now voluntarily making their homes and cars smokefree, reducing their children's exposure to second-hand smoke. We will continue to urge parents to do this in encouraging them to take responsibility for their children's health. The Public Health White Paper due later this year will set out our priorities for action in this and other areas of tobacco control.

Tobacco: Retail Trade

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the display of tobacco products in retail premises.

Anne Milton: The Government are developing options around the display of tobacco in shops.

Tuberculosis: Children

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were diagnosed with tuberculosis in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: The information requested is shown in the following table. 
	
		
			  Tuberculosis case reports in children aged 16 or under, England, 2004 - 09( 1) 
			   Age group (years ) 
			   Under 5  5 to 16  Total 
			 2004 146 366 512 
			 2005 153 376 529 
			 2006 116 391 507 
			 2007 156 431 587 
			 2008 167 416 583 
			 2009 148 362 510 
			 (1 )Data for 2004 to 2008 as at September 2009. Data for 2009 is provisional as at February 2010.  Source:  Health Protection Agency

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Deportation

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions removals by the UK Border Agency have been abandoned or postponed because the deportee has required medical treatment in each of the last two years.

Damian Green: When a UKBA removal is abandoned or postponed, this is called a failed removal.
	UKBA attribute failed removals into certain categories. There is no specific category for 'deportee requiring medical treatment'. However we do record the following categories:
	Medical reps received
	Subject deemed medically unfit by carrier
	Subject medically unfit to fly
	The latest full two years worth of data available is for 2008-09 and 2009-10. Over these two years, 602 removals failed due to one of the above three reasons. It should be noted that these are instances of failed removals i.e. the same individual could potentially fail to be removed on medical grounds on multiple occasions.
	It should be noted that when a removal has failed every effort is made to ensure their successful removal at a later date.
	 Note:
	AII figures quoted are internal management information only and are subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Asylum: Gloucestershire

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse of provision of asylum seeker  (a) accommodation and  (b) support services in Gloucestershire was in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The Annex to this reply provides estimated costs for accommodation and for subsistence payments in Gloucestershire for the years 2006-07 to 2009-10. The information is not available to provide similar figures for 2005-06.
	 Annex
	
		
			  Table 1: Estimated cost of accommodating asylum-seekers in Gloucestershire 
			  Financial year  Estimated cost (£000) 
			 2006-07 669 
			 2007-08 824 
			 2008-09 774 
			 2009-10 789 
			  Note: We are unable to provide similar information for 2005-06 as accommodation provision in that year was on a different basis. Such records as are available do not provide a suitable basis for analysis by county for 2005-06. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Subsistence payments to asylum-seekers in Gloucestershire 
			  £000 
			  Financial year  S95 costs  S4 costs  Total 
			 2006-07 251 29 280 
			 2007-08 271 51 322 
			 2008-09 214 69 283 
			 2009-10 219 78 297 
			  Notes: 1. These figures are based on average accommodation costs and average numbers of applicants accommodated. They should therefore be treated as approximations. 2. We do not have the information available to provide similar information for 2005-06. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Payments to Gloucestershire authorities for UASCs 
			  £ 
			  Financial year  Gloucestershire C.C.  South Gloucestershire  Total 
			 2006-07 184,892 0 184,892 
			 2007-08 438,703 9,957 448,660 
			 2008-09 381,988 81,970 463,958 
			 2009-10 1,124,359 78.209 1,202,568 
			  Note: These figures are for payments made in each financial year rather than for liabilities incurred in those years. We do not have information available to provide similar figures for 2005-06.

Borders: Personal Records

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has paid to Deloitte Consulting for work on the eBorders programme since September 2005; whether further payments remain to be made; how much her Department has paid to Raytheon for work on the eBorders programme since November 2007; and what  (a) incentives and  (b) performance indicators were used to measure Deloitte's performance.

Damian Green: Since September 2005 the e-Borders programme has paid Deloitte Consulting £37.3 million; there is an amount of £139,414 remaining to be paid for work done during June and July 2010. Since November 2007 e-Borders has paid £188.9 million to Raytheon.
	Performance indicators were included within work packages agreed with Deloitte Consulting. These included detailed lists of deliverables to be completed within scheduled timescales. The acceptance criteria were agreed by the manager of the relevant workstream with a review being completed prior to acceptance.
	Reports of monthly progress were reviewed and agreed at the programme level.
	These detailed the work completed and activities to be completed in the following month. Any failure to complete a deliverable to the accepted criteria would result in a percentage deduction in fees. No incentives were agreed within work packages.

Departmental Chief Scientific Advisers

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions each Minister in her Department has met the Chief Scientific Officer in her Department since 6 May 2010.

Lynne Featherstone: holding answer 20 July 2010
	I have met with Professor Bernard Silverman, the Home Office's Chief Scientific Officer on one occasion.
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has met with him once on 28 July 2010; the Minister of State for Security and Counter-Terrorism has met with him five times; the Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice has met with him once; and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Prevention has met with him on two occasions.
	In addition, Professor Silverman has been present at a number of larger meetings chaired by the Home Secretary, and one chaired by the Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice.

Detainees: Children

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been detained in immigration removal centres since 6 May 2010.

Damian Green: Published management information shows 115 children entered detention and were held solely under Immigration Act powers in Q2 2010. Of these, 50 children had entered between 6 May and 30 June.
	The latest published information on children detained solely under Immigration Act powers relating to the second quarter 2010 are available in the Table 3.4 of the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom, April to June 2010 in the Library of the House and the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	The Government have been clear in its commitment to end the detention of children. We therefore continue to work with our corporate partners to find an alternative that protects the welfare of children, without undermining our immigration laws.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will assess the financial effects on educational institutions of implementation of her Department's proposed changes to the student visa system.

Damian Green: It is the Government's aim to reduce net migration to sustainable levels; tens of thousands not hundreds of thousands. The Government will be reviewing the non-economic immigration routes with a view to bringing forward proposals in due course. Economic impact on the sector will be assessed as part of the detailed consideration of the student visa system.

Security Industry: Regulation

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to bring into force those provisions of the Crime and Security Act 2010 relating to the private security industry not yet in force.

Lynne Featherstone: holding answer 27 July 2010
	I announced on 17 August 2010 the Government's intention to ban wheel-clamping and towing on private land in England and Wales. The ban will be included in the Government's Freedom Bill which will be introduced later this year. Accordingly, sections 42 and 44 of the Crime and Security Act 2010, which provide for the regulation of the vehicle immobilisation industry by way of business licensing, will be repealed.
	The 2010 Act also includes a provision, section 43, which would extend the scope of the Security Industry Authority's voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme beyond private security contractors to enable other businesses to apply for membership in respect of their in-house security operations. The Government will consider their plans for commencement of this provision in due course.

UK Border Agency: Patrol Craft

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to review the number of vessels used by the UK Border Agency for coastline patrols.

Damian Green: In line with the requirements of the Comprehensive Spending Review, all UKBA resources and assets are under review and this includes the Border Force cutter fleet.

UK Border Agency: Patrol Craft

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse of coastline patrols by the UK Border Agency was in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: Approximate operating costs (running costs for vessels and crew salaries) are as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2005-06 9.2 
			 2006-07 9.5 
			 2007-08 10.8 
			 2008-09 10.3 
			 2009-10 10.9

UK Border Agency: Patrol Craft

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vessels are used by the UK Border Agency to patrol the Scottish coastline; and how many staff are employed to crew these vessels.

Damian Green: Our Cutter fleet is deployed according to risk and intelligence and works closely with other agencies and is a key component in making our border secure. In order to respond effectively to risk and intelligence one cutter and on occasion two cutters are deployed in Scottish waters. Each cutter carries a maximum crew of 12 border force officers.

UK Border Agency: Patrol Craft

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made following coastline patrols by the UK Border Agency in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The number of arrests made in the last five years in relation to patrols by cutters in UK and international waters respect of the seizures is as follows:
	
		
			   Arrests 
			 2006 6 
			 2007 2 
			 2008 23 
			 2009 5 
			 2010 (1)3 
			 (1) Arrests to date 
		
	
	It is important note that these figures do not include arrests which may have been made by other agencies and police forces.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children are being held at Yarl's Wood detention centre.

Damian Green: Published data, using the usual rounding conventions in our statistical publications to ensure the confidentiality of individual case files, show that as at 30 June 2010 there were less than three people detained solely under Immigration Act powers at Yarl's Wood removal centre who were recorded as being less than 18 years of age. This figure includes any cases where the age is disputed at the time.
	Information on children detained solely under Immigration Act powers relating to the second quarter 2010 are available in the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom, April to June 2010 in the Library of the House and the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	The Government have been clear in its commitment to end the detention of children. We therefore continue to work with our corporate partners to find an alternative that protects the welfare of children, without undermining our immigration laws.

INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

ICT

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many field visits staff and officers of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority have made to assess the effectiveness of its remote data access system since 7 May 2010.

Charles Walker: The online expenses system is monitored remotely for effectiveness frequently. This allows IPSA to see how the remote access system is working and therefore field visits specifically to assess remote access are not required.

ICT

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many complaints the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has received about loss of data entered into its online claims system since 7 May 2010.

Charles Walker: The IPSA has advised me that it is not aware of any complaints relating to loss of data entered into the online expenses system.

ICT

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the log out parameters for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority online claims system are.

Charles Walker: To log off the online expenses system users must first click the "log off" button in red at the top of the screen and close the window before signing out of the secure website by clicking on "sign out" on the right had side of the screen.
	If the page is closed prematurely while the user is logged in, the system will lock the user out for a period of approximately five minutes.
	In addition, to protect MPs data, the online expense system automatically logs users out after five minutes of inactivity.

ICT

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, for what reason the hon. Member for Bassetlaw was unable to access the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority online expenses system at 14.30 on 29 July 2010.

Charles Walker: The online expense system suffered a technical problem on 29 July 2010 resulting in a short period of unavailability. This was remedied on the same afternoon by stopping and restarting the web services.

Members: Allowances

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, when the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority plans to reimburse the hon. Member for Bassetlaw for his claims for sums spent on office rental.

Charles Walker: The IPSA has advised me that it does not consider it appropriate to comment publicly on expense claims submitted by individual MPs.

Redundancy Pay

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority staff have received redundancy payments; of what amount in each case; and for what reasons.

Charles Walker: No IPSA staff have received redundancy payments.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Conflict Resolution: Females

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials of his Department have engaged in the cross-departmental process on renewal of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in the last month; and what the payband of each such official is.

Stephen O'Brien: Nine officials from the Department for International Development (DFID) have been engaged in the cross-departmental process of renewing the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in the past month. A senior civil servant (deputy director) is leading this process, supported by two senior advisers (DFID A1 payband), five advisers (A2 payband) and one programme coordinator (B1 payband).

Departmental Consultants

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by  (a) his Department and  (b) each non-departmental public body for which he is responsible in each year since 2005.

Stephen O'Brien: Amounts spent on external consultants and advisers by the Department for International Development (DFID) in each financial year since 2007-08 are set out in the table. Information on a comparable basis is not available for earlier periods. No external consultancies were commissioned by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, DFID's only non-departmental public body, from 2005-06 to 2009-10.
	
		
			   Consultancy spending (£000) 
			 2007-08 21,200 
			 2008-09 24,500 
			 2009-10 19,100

Departmental ICT

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which IT contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the monetary value of each such contract was.

Stephen O'Brien: In 2008, the Department for International Development cancelled an internal information technology project run by our Pakistan office. The project had spent £7,000 at the point of cancellation.

Developing Countries: Debts

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many countries with debts to the UK had all or part of that debt cancelled between 1997 and May 2010.

Stephen O'Brien: At least 49 countries with debts to the UK had all or part of that debt cancelled between 1997 and May 2010.
	Information on debt relief from the Department for International Development (DFID) before 2001 could not be provided without disproportionate cost. This figure therefore includes (i) debt relief provided by DFID 2001 to 2010 and (ii) debt relief provided by the Export Credit Guarantees Department 1997 to May 2010.

East Kilbride

Michael McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the  (a) rent and  (b) operating cost of his Department's offices at (i) Abercrombie House, East Kilbride and (ii) Palace Street, London SW1 were in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Stephen O'Brien: The rent and operating costs for Abercrombie House (East Kilbride) and Palace Street (London) during the financial year 2009-10, were as follows:
	
		
			  2009-10  Abercrombie House  Palace Street  Total (£) 
			 Rent Freehold 5,245,684 5,245,684 
			 Operating costs (1)1,459,000 2,054,000* 3,513,000 
			 (1) Excludes rates

East Kilbride

Michael McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of his Department's property at  (a) Abercrombie House, East Kilbride and  (b) Palace Street, London SW1 is vacant.

Stephen O'Brien: None of the Department for International Development's property in Palace Street or Abercrombie House is vacant. 1 Palace Street is shared with Visit Britain and Visit England (agencies of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport).

International Assistance: Disability

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what objectives he has for policy on assistance for disabled people in developing countries at the forthcoming UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals.

Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government, along with our European Union partners, is working hard to secure the strongest possible outcomes for the world's poor at the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) summit next month to ensure that efforts to reach the MDGs must seek to support the poorest and most vulnerable people, including disabled people.
	Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a major cause of disability in the developing world. Successfully addressing the NTDs challenge is fundamental to achieving the MDGs, particularly MDG 6 (Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases). The Department for International Development is working to ensure a substantive reference to NTDs and maternal and child health in the MDG summit's outcome document which will focus international efforts and actions over the next five years. Focusing on improving health in the developing world will help to reduce incidences of disability.

Israel

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department paid to  (a) B'Tselem,  (b) HaMoked,  (c) Yesh Din,  (d) Ir Amin,  (e) Bimkom,  (f) the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel,  (g) the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition,  (h) Gisha,  (i) the Association for Civil Rights in Israel,  (j) Peace Now,  (k) Mossawa and  (l) Breaking the Silence in each financial year since 2005-06; for what purposes those payments were made; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's spending on each such programme or project undertaken by each such organisation.

Alan Duncan: The Department of International Development (DFID) has not provided funding directly to any of these organisations. However DFID, along with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence provides funding to the Conflict Prevention Pool (CPP). For details of CPP support to these organisations and the UK Government's view of their effectiveness, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer provided by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, (Mr Hague) of 6 September 2010,  Official Report, columns 219-21W.

Libya: Overseas Aid

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department have had with their Libyan counterparts on his Department's work in that country in the last 12 months.

Stephen O'Brien: Neither Ministers nor officials from the Department for International Development (DFID) have had discussions with their Libyan counterparts.

Overseas Aid: Finance

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the Government's budget for overseas aid  (a) was in 1997-98 and  (b) is in 2010-11; and what estimate he has made of the number of people lifted out of poverty by actions attributable to UK aid expenditure in each year since 1997.

Stephen O'Brien: United Kingdom official development assistance in 1997 was £2.1 billion. The Department for International Development's (DFID) budget for 2010-11 is £7.7 billion. The total level of official development assistance from other Government Departments and agencies for 2010-11 will be finalised in the course of the current spending review.
	DFID does not hold estimates of the number of people lifted out of poverty by actions attributable to UK aid expenditure in each year since 1997. Recent estimates suggest that DFID's aid lifts 3 million people out of poverty each year.
	The Government are committed to making UK aid more effective in reducing poverty, through improved transparency and value for money. As part of this work, we are looking to develop new ways of standardising and aggregating the results of individual projects to help improve estimates of our impact on poverty reduction.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the  (a) Government of South Africa,  (b) African Union and  (c) Southern African Development Community members on progress on the provisions of the Zimbabwean Global Political Agreement relating to land audit.

Stephen O'Brien: In recent months, the Secretary of State has had discussions with key interlocutors in the Zimbabwean Global Political Agreement process. These discussions have not gone into the specifics of moving forward on a land audit.
	The UK continues to work closely with other donors through the United Nations and World Bank in supporting the policies required for an effective land audit. We will consider further support to a physical land audit when we are confident this will be used for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe.

JUSTICE

Prisoners: Religion

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in respect of which prisons he has received recent reports on the religious radicalisation of prisoners.

Crispin Blunt: Prison staff are asked to submit reports to prison security departments on any subject of concern. Guidance and training have been provided to help staff identify potential concerns around extremism and radicalisation. The guidance draws a clear distinction with the legitimate practice of faith or expression of political ideas. Where staff observe behaviours which give rise to concern they are reported using these established procedures. Each report is considered and its likely reliability and importance assessed, in order for appropriate actions to be taken.
	It is important to note that reporting may be partial, uncorroborated or duplicative. Therefore the number of prisons where reports of radicalisation has been received does not of itself indicate an established or absolute level of risk.
	In the most recent three month period (May to July 2010), national recording systems show 44 prisons in England and Wales logged Security Information Reports of incidents which might relate to manifestations of attempted radicalisation. This figure represents a snapshot in time influenced by operational variables such as population mix, regime and other factors.
	Radicalisation is a societal phenomenon; the holding of extremist views does not necessarily lead to violent extremist behaviour and the challenge is to identify and manage risks appropriately. Prisons therefore work closely with the police and other partners to manage those risks among offenders and have a developed programme of work to deliver more effective management of those risks.
	Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Care Proceedings: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much the High Cost Case Unit spent on  (a) solicitors' costs,  (b) counsels' fee and  (c) disbursements on care proceedings in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how much the High Cost Case Unit spent on care proceedings in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(3)  how much was spent by the High Cost Case Unit on the 10 most costly care proceedings in the last 12 months for which the figures are available.

Jonathan Djanogly: The most costly public law Children Act proceedings, for which the final bill was authorised in financial year 2009-10, were as follows:
	1. £356,400
	2. £323,580
	3. £271,330
	4. £229,860
	5. £221,910
	6. £217,030
	7. £215,200
	8. £214,880
	9. £212,340
	10. £211,120
	Spend on public law Children Act cases in financial year 2009-10, under the very high cost case (VHCC) scheme, was £57 million. This figure includes solicitor fees, counsel fees and disbursements.
	Civil VHCC costs are not recorded centrally in a way that separates  (a) solicitor costs,  (b) counsel fees and  (c) disbursement costs. Therefore the detailed information requested is not readily available.

Departmental Assets

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  which former  (a) buildings and  (b) land owned by (i) his Department and (ii) (A) non-departmental public bodies and (B) agencies for which his Department is responsible have been sold since May 2005; what the sale price of each was at the time of sale; and to which body the funds from the sale accrued in each case;
	(2)  how much was paid by his Department in rent for properties in  (a) total and  (b) each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was created in May 2007 and information relating to buildings and land, including rents, is only held centrally from that date. Obtaining this information before May 2007 would incur disproportionate costs. Information on MoJ non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The following tables give details of the proceeds of the sale of properties and amounts paid in rent since May 2007. It includes information from MoJ headquarters, National Offender Management Service Agency (custodial and non-custodial), HM Courts Service, Tribunals Service and the Office of the Public Guardian.
	A breakdown of buildings and land sold is not available and information on the sale of properties is not held on a regional basis. The following tables detail total revenue from the sale of land and property by MoJ bodies.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Her Majesty's Courts Service 6.6 11.0 1.5 12.1 2.5 
			 Office of the Public Guardian 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Tribunal Service 0 0 0 0 0 
			 National Offender Management Service Agency 12.8 22.1 12.1 10.4 3.1 
			 Ministry of Justice Headquarters - 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	Information on rent paid on MoJ properties is not held on a regional basis, other than for London. The following tables provide figures for rents paid.
	
		
			  England 
			  £ million 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Her Majesty's Courts Service 36.0 41.3 43.4 
			 Office of the Public Guardian(1) 0 0 0 
			 Tribunals Service 29.9 29.9 29.1 
			 National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Agency(2) - 17.6 17.5 
			 MoJ headquarters 27.8 28.1 26.4 
			 (1 )Rent for the OPG is paid by the Ministry of Justice headquarters. (2) Central records of rent paid by NOMS agency is not held before 2008-09. It is not broken down by region and includes data for Wales which could not be disaggregated. 
		
	
	
		
			  Scotland 
			  £ million 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Tribunals Service(1) 2.5 2.4 2.4 
			 (1 )The Tribunals Service is the only part of the MoJ that pays rent on property in Scotland. 
		
	
	
		
			  Wales 
			  £ 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Her Majesty's Courts Service 1,300,000 1,400,000 2,000,000 
			 Office of the Public Guardian(1) 0 0 0 
			 Tribunal Service 1,000,000 1,000,000 955,369 
			 National Offender Management Service(2) - - - 
			 MoJ HQ 116,806 116,461 116,461 
			 (1) Rent for the OPG is paid by the Ministry of Justice HQ. (2 )Central records of rent paid by NOMS Agency is not held before 2008-09. It is included in the data for England in the table above.

Departmental Buildings

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much office space per employee his Department and its predecessors occupied in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how much his Department and its predecessors spent on vacant properties in each year since 1997.

Crispin Blunt: The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007 and information before then is not held centrally. Obtaining these details would incur disproportionate costs.
	The following data include headquarters buildings for the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Agency, including custodial and non-custodial estate, the Tribunals Service and the Office of the Public Guardian. HM Courts Service details are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on over 60 other MOJ agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Office space per employee 
			  Square metre 
			  Body  Office space per employee 2007-08  Office space per employee 2008-09  Office space per employee 2009-10 
			 Ministry of Justice headquarters 17 15 n/a 
			 National Offender Management Service Agency n/a n/a 12 
			 Tribunals Service 8 9 10 
			 Office of the Public Guardian n/a n/a 10 
			 n/a = Not available  Note: Data on floor space for MOJ headquarters for the period 2009-10 have not yet been processed. The details in the table are based on available information. 
		
	
	With regard to vacant property, information is only available for the NOMS Agency from 2008-09. A cost of £517,000 was incurred in 2008-09 and £719,000 in 2009-10.

Drugs: Crime

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of an offence of involvement in illegal drug trafficking or usage in each year since 2006.

Crispin Blunt: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for drug trafficking and possession of illegal drugs, England and Wales 2006 to 2008 (latest available), is given in the table.
	Data for 2009 are planned for publication on 21 October 2010.
	
		
			  Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences related to drugs trafficking and possession( 1) , England and Wales, 2006 to 2008( 2,3,4,5) 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			  Drug trafficking offence description  2006  2007  2008  2006  2007  2008 
			 Unlawful importation of a drug controlled under misuse of Drugs Act 1971 874 818 830 835 783 745 
			 Unlawful exportation of a drug controlled under misuse of Drugs Act 1971 29 38 16 35 36 29 
			 Production of or being concerned in the production of a controlled drug. 1,903 2,649 3,300 1,480 2,120 2,627 
			 Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply. 6,572 7,130 7,931 5,062 5,499 6,443 
			 Supplying or offering to supply (or being concerned in supplying or offering to supply) a controlled drug. 4,232 4,323 4,508 3,499 3,507 3,940 
			 Having a controlled drug in possession on a ship; Being knowingly concerned in the carrying or concealing of a controlled drug on a ship. 1 1 5 1 1 - 
			 Concealing or transferring the proceeds of drug trafficking; Assisting another person to retain the benefit of drug trafficking; Acquisition, possession or use of proceeds of drug trafficking. 21 21 11 6 7 6 
			 Total drugs trafficking offences 13,632 14,980 16,601 10,918 11,953 13,790 
			 Total possession offences(1) 29,725 33,195 39,510 28,040 31,722 38,087 
			 (1) Includes offences under statutes: Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; Misuse of Drugs Act 1671; Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1694; Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990; Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. (2) Excludes convictions for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (3) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken Into account when those data are used. (5) The number of defendants found guilty in a particular year may exceed the number proceeded against as the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in an earlier year and the defendants were found guilty at the Crown court in the following year or the defendants were found guilty of a different offence to that for which they were originally proceeded against.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice

Fines: Magistrates Courts

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the monetary value was of outstanding fines imposed by Bexley Magistrates Court in each of the last three years; and what the monetary value was of fines written off in that period.

Jonathan Djanogly: HMCS systems do not identify the value of fines for individual courts as the accounting is managed in centralised units. To identify the value outstanding and written off for individual courts would incur a disproportionate cost as it would require a manual search of all court records.
	Bexley is within the central and south area of the London Local Criminal Justice Board area so set out in the following table are the amounts outstanding and written off in the last three years.
	The value of outstanding balance includes the amount owed for fines imposed in the magistrates and crown courts plus compensation, victims surcharge, costs and the value of unpaid fixed penalty notices that are transferred to HMCS for enforcement as a fine. The outstanding balance has risen through the application of a strict policy that only allows fines to be written off in certain circumstances. The outstanding balance includes fines imposed a number of years ago during the period when fines could not be cancelled (2004 to 2006) and fines which are being paid by instalments. Some of the balance outstanding could be as much as 10-years-old.
	Fines can be either administratively cancelled or legally cancelled. Amounts written off can relate to fines that were imposed in either the current or any previous year.
	
		
			  Central and south London 
			  £ 
			   Amount outstanding  Legally cancelled  Administratively cancelled 
			 2007-08 34,480,244 1,874,266 3,242,871 
			 2008-09 38,157,039 2,484,088 5,584,663 
			 2009-10 42,113,989 1,474,824 1,018,757

Magistrates Courts: Surrey

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many representations he has received from  (a) residents of Surrey and  (b) magistrates in Surrey on the closure of Woking Magistrates Court; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each such representation.

Jonathan Djanogly: The consultation period extends until 15 September. We will share the number of responses received and a summary of them when the Lord Chancellor publishes his decision for each area.
	As of 26 August the Department had received 142 formal responses to the consultation on the provision of court services in Kent Surrey and Sussex.

Prisoners: Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what guidance his Department provides prisons on the  (a) level and  (b) means of calculation of remuneration paid to prisoners for work undertaken whilst in prison;
	(2)  what activities are classified as work for the purposes of the remuneration paid to prisoners.

Crispin Blunt: Guidance on prisoners' pay is set out in Prison Service Order 4460 (Prisoners' Pay), a copy of which has been placed in the House Library. The order sets out minimum rates of prisoner pay and requires prison governors and directors of contracted prisons to devise local pay schemes that pay either the minimum or above the minimum rate of pay and that reflect regime priorities.
	The purpose of paying prisoners is to encourage their constructive participation in the regime of the establishment. Prisoners are remunerated if they participate in purposeful activity which is defined as undertaking work, induction, education, training or offending behaviour programmes.

Prisons: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the cost to the public purse has been of the provision of each private finance initiative prison since its opening;
	(2)  what the operating cost has been of each private finance initiative prison since its opening.

Crispin Blunt: It is not possible to provide a complete answer to the hon. Member's question in relation to providing operating costs for these PFI contracts (since their opening), as centralised detailed historical data is not available for all periods in question, and to investigate further would incur significant disproportionate costs.
	There are nine private finance initiative prison (PFI) contracts currently in place for England and Wales. The table that follows provides an annual net present valve (NPV) calculated for the winning bidder. It should be noted that there is no direct relationship in the table between the current estimated annual value of the contract for 2010-11 and the original NPV for the whole of life contract.
	The current estimated value of the contracts is a forecast of their net value and is included for information. It should be noted that there are a number of changeable factors that affect the annual cost of running each of the prisons set out above, e.g. population levels, service requirements and variations in RPI to which the contracts are subject.
	
		
			  Name of Prison  Location  25 year contract which ends:  Main service provider  Original opening net present value (NPV) (£ million)  Current estimated annual value 2010-11 (£) 
			 HMP Altcourse Fazakerley, Merseyside 30 May 2023 G4S (1)247 48,565,339 
			 HMP Ashfield Pucklechurch near Bristol 31 October 2024 Serco (1)121 24,838,073 
			 HMP Bronzefield Ashford, Middlesex 16 June 2029 Kalyx (1)219 28,102,124 
			 HMP Dovegate Marchington near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire 8 July 2026 Serco (1)240 35,461,326 
			 HMP Forest Bank Salford, Greater Manchester 19 January 2025 Kalyx (1)197 38,747,315 
			 HMP Lowdham Grange Nottingham 15 February 2023 Serco (1)137 26,559,484 
			 HMP Parc Bridgend, South Wales 14 December 2022 G4S (1)266 44,592,734 
			 HMP Peterborough Cambridgeshire 13 February 2028 Kalyx (1)291 33,636,428 
			 HMP Rye Hill Onley, near Rugby, Warwickshire 20 January 2026 G4S (1)154 19,940,044 
			 (1) Over 25 years.

Prisons: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the construction cost was of each private finance initiative prison opened since 1996.

Crispin Blunt: The following table shows the construction cost of each private finance initiative (PFI) prison built since 1996.
	
		
			  Prison  Opening date  Construction cost (£ million) 
			 Pare (Bridgend) November 1997 47 
			 Altcourse (Liverpool) December 1997 68 
			 Lowdham Grange (Nottingham) February 1998 25 
			 Ashfield (Bristol) November 1999 26 
			 Forest Bank (Manchester) January 2000 45 
			 Rye Hill (Rugby) January 2001 37 
			 Dovegate (Uttoxeter) July 2001 64 
			 Bronzefield (Ashford, Surrey) June 2004 43 
			 Peterborough March 2005 68 
		
	
	Additionally, the contract for a new PFI prison at Belmarsh West (South East London) was signed on 30 June 2010 and construction has started. The estimated construction cost is £97 million.

Prisons: Trade Unions

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he next expects to meet representatives of Prison Service trade unions.

Crispin Blunt: I met with representatives of the POA, PCS and the Prison Service Joint Industrial Council on 6 September and representatives of the Prison Governors' Association on 8 September.

Taxis

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its predecessors spent on taxi fares in each year since 1997.

Crispin Blunt: The Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) accounting systems do not record expenditure on taxis separately from other forms of travel and subsistence. This is also true of the Ministry's predecessor departments, the former Department for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor's Department. It would incur disproportionate costs to examine thousands of individual expense claims and Government Procurement Card records held locally to isolate expenditure on taxis.
	Some information is available for central functions within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the former Office of Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) for the period 2005-06 to 2007-08 from Home Office systems. As accounting records were migrated to MoJ's systems in November/December 2008, expenditure for 2007-08 is not for the full year.
	
		
			  National Offender Management Services Centre 
			   £000 (rounded) 
			 2005-06 64 
			 2006-07 72 
			 2007-08 89 
		
	
	
		
			  Office for Criminal Justice Reform 
			   £000 (rounded) 
			 2005-06 121 
			 2006-07 14 
			 2007-08 15 
		
	
	All travel by Ministry of Justice staff members and Ministers is completed in line with the published rules for official travel and subsistence within the staff handbook. The rules are in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
	The MoJ's policy on staff use of taxis states that staff
	"may only claim reimbursement of taxi fares where there is no other suitable form of public transport or if you have heavy luggage to transport or where the saving in official time is important"

Unpaid Fines

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the monetary value was of outstanding fines imposed by  (a) Keighley magistrates' court and  (b) Bradford Magistrates' Court in each of the last three years; and what the monetary value was of fines written off in that period.

Jonathan Djanogly: HMCS systems do not identify the value of fines for individual courts as the accounting is managed in centralised units. To identify the value outstanding and written off for individual courts would incur a disproportionate cost as it would require a manual search of all court records.
	Keighley and Bradford are both within the West Yorkshire Local Criminal Justice Board Area so set out in the table are the amounts outstanding and written off in the last three years.
	The value of outstanding balance includes the amount owed for fines imposed in the magistrates and crown courts plus compensation, victims surcharge, costs and the value of unpaid fixed penalty notices that are transferred to HMCS for enforcement as a fine. The outstanding balance has risen through the application of a strict policy that only allows fines to be written off in certain circumstances. The outstanding balance includes fines imposed a number of years ago during the period when fines could not be cancelled (2004-06) and fines which are being paid by instalments. Some of the balance outstanding could be as much as 10 years old.
	Fines can be either administratively cancelled or legally cancelled. Amounts written off can relate to fines that were imposed in either the current or any previous year.
	
		
			  West Yorkshire 
			  £ 
			   Amount outstanding  Legally cancelled  Administratively cancelled 
			 2007-08 12,890,971 3,456,578 4,187,950 
			 2008-09 14,852,420 2,456,015 1,300,731 
			 2009-10 17,067,374 3,627,781 1,044,621

SCOTLAND

Departmental Responsibilities

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what meetings with external parties he held in the week beginning 20 July 2010.

Michael Moore: In the week beginning 20 July 2010, I met with a wide range of external parties, from a cross-section of sectors.

Departmental Responsibilities

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which meetings he was due to hold did not take place in the week beginning 20 July 2010.

Michael Moore: Meetings may occasionally have to be postponed for a variety of reasons and rescheduled as soon as practical for all parties. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Horse Racing

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on the contribution of horseracing in Scotland to the Scottish economy; and if he will meet Friends of Scottish Racing to discuss this matter.

Michael Moore: I have not yet had the opportunity to discuss the contribution of horseracing in Scotland to the Scottish economy with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.

Social Security Benefits

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the likely effects of changes to the benefits system on people in Scotland; and if he will visit carers in East Lothian to discuss this matter with them.

Michael Moore: I have had a number of discussions on these issues with ministerial colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. As I said previously in my response to PQ 12562 on 6 September 2010,  Official Report, column 12W, the Spending Review Framework document issued by HM Treasury on 8 June 2010 states that the Government will look closely at the effects of their decisions on different groups in society, especially the least well off, across the United Kingdom.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Security

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the implications for UK air transport safety and security of the abolition of his Department's Transport Security and Contingencies team (TRANSEC); and what estimate he has made of the effect on the public purse of the transfer of TRANSEC's responsibilities to the Home Office.

Theresa Villiers: No decision has been taken to abolish TRANSEC. The cost of all Department for Transport activity is under review in the comprehensive spending review.

M5: Gloucestershire

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on installing traffic lights at junction 12 of the M5 as part of the section 106 undertaking in respect of the Hunt's Grove development.

Michael Penning: Work to improve M5 junction 12 including the installation of traffic signals to improve traffic flows began on 6 September. The scheme also includes remodelling the roundabouts at that junction. To minimise delays to traffic these works will be carried out overnight and will take approximately 14 weeks to complete. The scheme is being funded by contributions from three developers as well as the Highways Agency.

Motorways: Ashton under Lyne

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times  (a) the grass has been cut and  (b) litter has been collected from the (i) roundabout on Junction 24 of the M60 and (ii) area surrounding Junction 2 on the M67 in the latest period for which figures are available.

Michael Penning: Since January 2010, the Highways Agency has cut the grass where required for safety reasons, at Junction 24 of the M60 Motorway, on one occasion. Along the entire length of the M67, including Junction 2, the Agency has twice cut the grass where required for safety reasons, within that period.
	Since January 2010, the Agency has undertaken 11 litter clearance exercises at Junction 24 of the M60. Within that period, seven litter clearance exercises have been undertaken along the entire length of the M67, including Junction 2.

Motorways: Ashton under Lyne

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the frequency of grass cutting and litter collection is on the area surrounding Junction 2 on the M67.

Michael Penning: The frequency of grass cutting is determined by regular inspections to ensure that the grass is kept at a level that will not affect visibility for motorists. The Highways Agency continually monitors the entire length of the M67, including Junction 2, and cuts the grass on its land as and when required. This continual monitoring also determines the timing of the Agency's litter clearance exercises along the M67.

Railways: Gloucester

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what proportion of passenger rail services  (a) departing from and  (b) arriving at Gloucester railway station were on time in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many passenger rail services called at Gloucester railway station in each year since 1997.

Theresa Villiers: The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested.
	Network Rail is responsible for performance data for the rail industry. My hon. Friend may wish to contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for such information:
	Iain Coucher
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	Kings Place
	90 York Way
	London, N1 9AG

Railways: Kent

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what public consultation his Department plans to undertake on the timetable specification for the next Integrated Kent Franchise.

Theresa Villiers: The current Integrated Kent Franchise is operated by Southeastern and is due to end in March 2014. The Department for Transport would normally consult on the contents of a new franchise around 18 months before a replacement franchise is due to commence.
	It should be noted that the Department is currently consulting on amendments to the franchising system, which may alter the process that will be employed in future.

Railways: Lincoln

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions  (a) he and  (b) Ministers in his Department have had with Network Rail on its proposed closure of Lincoln high street level crossing for up to 40 minutes an hour between 0800 and 1900 daily.

Theresa Villiers: Department for Transport Ministers and officials communicate regularly with Network Rail. The operation of Lincoln high street level crossing is an operational matter for Network Rail.
	Network Rail advises that the possible proposed additional down-time of the level crossing derives from a scheme involving upgrades at various locations on the joint line from Werrington Junction, near Peterborough, to Doncaster via Spalding, Lincoln and Gainsborough Lea road. This route forms a major part of the Strategic Freight Network programme and works in conjunction with the Felixstowe to Nuneaton project and other grade separation schemes to free up capacity for passenger services on the network.
	Network Rail understands that proposals to increase freight capacity through Lincoln will have an impact on the level crossing. The company has been working closely with Lincolnshire county council, and will continue to work with all parties to achieve a suitable solution. I note that the hon. Member has been in touch with Network Rail on this issue.

Railways: Lincoln

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether  (a) he and  (b) Ministers in his Department discussed with East Coast Trains its decision not to operate a direct rail route between Lincoln and London seven times per day; and whether the decision has temporary or permanent effect.

Theresa Villiers: The decision to provide one new through service between Lincoln and London in the May 2011 timetable rather than the seven originally proposed was taken following discussions with the train operator.
	The forthcoming refranchising of intercity East Coast train services will provide an opportunity for potential train operators to review the number of through services between Lincoln and London that might be provided in the future.

Railways: North West

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with Network Rail on rail services in the North West; and if he will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: The Secretary of State regularly meets with stakeholders from across the rail industry, including Network Rail. Such discussions may include reference to rail services in the north-west.
	As Minister of State, I met with Network Rail during a visit to Manchester in July. Topics discussed included the Northern Hub study and Network Rail's proposals for improvements to Manchester Victoria station.
	I refer the hon. Member to my previous answers on north-west rail services on 7 June 2010,  Official Report, columns 38-39W and 24 June 2010,  Official Report, columns 299-300W.

Railways: Theft

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to prevent the theft of metals from the railway network.

Theresa Villiers: Metal theft is a crime which hits the railway particularly hard and causes levels of disruption out of all proportion to the value of the material stolen. That is why the British Transport Police, as the national police force for the railway, is in the forefront of efforts to tackle the problem.
	The British Transport Police hosted a national conference on the subject in Leeds last July bringing together police forces, Network Rail, the scrap metal industry and others with an interest to consider further measures to deal with cable and other metal theft. The approach is to target the thieves and the scrap yards where they seek to sell their stolen material.

Roads: Accidents

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what target he has set for a reduction in the number of road casualties over the next five years.

Michael Penning: The UK already has some of the safest roads in the world, but the coalition is considering how to make them even safer and whether this will include targets going forward.

Roads: Lincoln

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet a delegation of local representatives to discuss the prospects for the Lincoln Eastern Bypass project.

Norman Baker: I will be happy to meet a delegation led by the hon. Member. Please write to my office at the Department for Transport, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham street, London SW1P 4DR to arrange a suitable date and time.

Travel: Concessions

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to provide special grant payments to travel concession authorities to fund the national concessionary travel scheme beyond March 2011.

Norman Baker: The special grant funding provided to Travel Concession Authorities by the Department for Transport following the introduction of the England-wide scheme in 2008 covered the period from 2008-09 through to 2010-11. The Department for Communities and Local Government is currently consulting on the distribution of formula grant funding to local authorities from April 2011 onwards. The proposals set out in that consultation include transferring the concessionary travel special grant into formula grant. Final decisions on the future funding route for the concessionary travel scheme will be taken as part of the spending review.

TREASURY

Departmental Internet

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Minister in his Department authorised the launch of the Spending Challenge website.

Justine Greening: The Spending Challenge website was launched by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 9 July on his constituent, Mr A Burny.

Mark Hoban: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 26 July on his constituent, Mr J Dewhurst.

Justine Greening: The hon. Member's correspondence was transferred to the Department for Works and Pensions that will reply directly.

WALES

Fast Jet Training

Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on fast jet training in Wales.

Cheryl Gillan: I have had discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on a number of defence issues affecting Wales.
	The Government are in the final stages of the Strategic Defence and Security Review which includes all aspects of defence. Final decisions will be made by the National Security Council in the autumn. As part of this review, I have arranged to speak with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence in the coming days to discuss the possible effects of the review on defence projects in Wales, including fast jet training.

Legislative Powers: National Assembly

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the Government will make it their policy to support the granting of additional legislative powers to the National Assembly for Wales.

Cheryl Gillan: It is for the people of Wales to decide whether the National Assembly for Wales gains further legislative powers. The Government are committed to holding a referendum by the end of the first quarter of next year. We will not prejudge the outcome.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Age: Discrimination

James Wharton: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what recent representations she has received on whether increases in travel insurance premiums from the age of retirement constitute age discrimination; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: Since taking office in May 2010 I have received one letter on whether increases in travel insurance premiums from the age of retirement constitute age discrimination.
	The Government remain committed to ending harmful age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services. Given the fast-changing demographics as people live longer, it is even more important to ensure that older people are treated fairly when accessing products such as travel insurance.
	A ban on age discrimination in the provisions of goods, facilities and services is contained in the Equality Act 2010. The Government are currently considering how these provisions can be implemented in the best way for business.

Departmental Consultants

Alun Cairns: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what the  (a) average and  (b) highest daily rate paid to consultants by the Government Equalities Office was in each of the last five years.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government Equalities Office is unable to provide data about daily rates as this information is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Since its creation on 12 October 2007 the Government Equalities Office has spent the following amounts on consultancy.
	
		
			  Financial year  Consultancy spend (£)  Number of consultancies  Average cost of consultancy (£) 
			 2007-08(1) 12,138 1 12,138 
			 2008-09 19,673 5 3,934 
			 2009-10 0 0 0 
			 2010-11(2) 0 0 0 
			 (1) From 12 October 2007 (2) As at 31 July 2010

Departmental Official Hospitality

Ian Austin: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how much the Government Equalities Office spent on hospitality for events hosted by each Minister in  (a) May and  (b) June 2010.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government Equalities Office spent £1,803 on the provision of hospitality at a ministerial event in June 2010. There was no expenditure on hospitality in May.

Equalities and Human Rights Commission

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many complaints of  (a) sex,  (b) race and  (c) disability discrimination at work have been made by staff of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in each of the last four years.

Lynne Featherstone: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is independent and manages its own affairs; the following is based on information it has provided.
	The following table details the number of complaints received by the Commission since its inception in 2007 in the format of grievances and employment tribunal claim forms (ET1).
	
		
			  Year of complaint  Race  Disability  Sex  Sex and disability  Sex and race  Sex, disability and race  Total 
			 October 2007 to March 2008 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 
			 April 2008 to March 2009 5 1 6 1 2 0 15 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 1 3 3 0 0 1 8 
			 April 2010 to July2010 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 6 5 10 1 2 1 25

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Allowances

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department and its predecessor spent on  (a) reimbursement of staff expenses and  (b) the 10 largest staff expense reimbursement claims in each year since 1997.

Chris Grayling: DWP spent the following on:
	 (a) reimbursement of staff expenses in each of the years since 2005-06.
	
		
			   Total amount reimbursed in staff expenses (£ million)  Reimbursed expenses as percentage of paybill 
			 2005-06 64.90 2.03 
			 2006-07 75.96 2.47 
			 2007-08 63.97 2.11 
			 2008-09 54.08 1.79 
			 2009-10 58.65 1.84 
			  Note s : 1. The figures above cover staff travel costs, including rail, air, car hire and staff subsistence and incidental costs. 2. Information prior to 2005-06 is not available. 
		
	
	 (b) On the 10 largest claims, that information would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Billing

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in July and August 2010.

Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions became a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code in March 2009 and set a target to pay 90% of correct invoices within 10 days of receipt. This target applies to all invoices paid by the Department and its agencies. The target has been met consistently since the signing of the Code.
	The percentage of all supplier payments made within 10 days of receipt of an invoice for July is 97%.
	I will let the hon. Member have the information on August's figures as soon as possible.

Departmental Pensions

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of pension contributions incurred by  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2010-11.

Steve Webb: Such information that is available is in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Year ending 
			  Pension contributions costs by:  31 March 2011  31 March 2010  31 March 2009  31 March 2008 
			 Departmental 474.0 464.8 425.9 421.9 
			  
			  Executive Agencies: 
			 Jobcentre Plus 294.3 286.9 248.3 244.7 
			 Pensions Disability Carers Service 50.4 52.1 56.0 61.6 
			  
			  Crown Non-Departmental Public Bodies: 
			 Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission 32.1 32.2 33.4 35.6 
			 Health and Safety Executive 26.7 26.5 25.2 24.4 
			  Source: Published Accounts. 
		
	
	The table details employer contributions to the Principal Civil Service Pension scheme made by the Department, Executive Agencies and Crown Non-Departmental Public Bodies per the published accounts for the three years ended 31 March 2010, and forecast information for the year ended 31 March 2011. Please note that the forecast information is based on actuals for the four months ended 31 July 2010, extrapolated for the remainder of the year.
	Information has only been included for entities included in the Resource Accounting boundary. The corporate centre figures are not published separately but are included in the departmental figures.

Departmental Public Consultation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to increase the involvement of young members of the public in the making of decisions that affect them by  (a) Ministers in his Department,  (b) officials in his Department and  (c) public bodies which fall within his Department's area of responsibility.

Chris Grayling: Securing the opinions of young people is essential to the Department for Work and Pensions and its Ministers.
	We encourage the involvement, not only of young people, but of all groups in society, in our policy-making processes. We highlight major consultations as widely as possible, notifying them to a wide variety of interested parties through relevant media, and produce them in a number of formats to promote ease of access.
	We work routinely with a wide variety of stakeholders and, through our various consultative forums, DWP and its agencies endeavour to involve a full range of customer organisations that represent the interests of all our customers, including young people. For example:
	Our Equality Schemes Customer Reference Group was formed to help the Department involve customers specifically on equality issues and to act as a consultation group. It provides insight across the range of the Department's policies and services through the personal experience of the representatives. A protected characteristic of its remit is age and a young representative has been specifically recruited to be a regular member of the group.
	Equality 2025 is a high-level advisory group of disabled people which offers Ministers and senior Government officials strategic advice at the very early stages of policy development and in-depth examinations of existing policy areas on issues that affect disabled people. The group has members who have experience in dealing with issues that affect young people, and includes two young disabled people.
	Under the auspices of the European year for combating poverty, DWP is funding a project in conjunction with the EU which involves the voices of young people. The project is being managed by Save the Children and is called Inspiring Change. The project supports young people to run 'change' projects to the benefit of their communities, while learning new skills.
	DWP regularly uses customer insight research techniques to gain a better understanding of their customers. This has included recently seeking the views of young people as part of a cross-section of customers on a variety of topics including the barriers homeless and people with mental health problems experience in joining the labour market, their experience in claiming benefits including Social Fund and the design of future service delivery models.
	Children and young people are a priority customer group within the Pension Disability and Carers Service. In recognition of this, the Family Carers Group was established. This is a forum which provides a focus on issues specific to children and young people claiming disability living allowance and provides a mechanism for consultation on service delivery issues impacting on them.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department contributed to each carer's charity it funds in each of the last 12 months.

Maria Miller: The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies do not ordinarily directly fund charities. The Department does, however, work closely with charities and voluntary organisations to help people access the services and benefits to which they are entitled.
	The Department also encourages a wide range of providers from the voluntary and charitable sectors-alongside providers in the private and public sectors-to contract with it to deliver employment programmes. It is not possible, however, to identify payments made to charitable organisations except at disproportionate cost; the Department's payment systems identify the individual recipients, but do not show the status of those recipients i.e. whether they are private, public, charitable or voluntary sector organisations.

Housing Benefit: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people in  (a) Coventry South constituency and  (b) the West Midlands who would be affected by implementation of his proposed changes to housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The information is not available at the constituency level.
	The Department published a document on "Impacts of Housing Benefit proposals: Changes to the Local Housing Allowance to be introduced in 2011-12" on 23 July, which includes analysis at the local authority level. A copy of the document has been placed in the Library.

Housing Benefit: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average change in the amount of benefit received by each claimant in  (a) Coventry South constituency and  (b) the West Midlands arising from his proposed reforms.

Chris Grayling: We are committed to reforming the benefits system to make work pay and are seeking views on a range of options set out in the consultation paper '21(st) Century Welfare' (Cm 7913).
	The financial implications of any change will depend on the detailed design of the chosen option. We do not aim to reduce the levels of support for people in the most vulnerable circumstances; but these reforms must ensure that benefits are well targeted and go to those who need them most, backed up by the right help to get into work.

International Pension Centre: Translation Services

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the International Pension Centre spent on translation and interpretation in each of the last five financial years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year  Amount (£) 
			 2005-06 309,000 
			 2006-07 294,000 
			 2007-08 198,000 
			 2008-09 461,000 
			 2009-10 231,000 
			  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.  Source: Oracle Application Desktop Integrator (ADI) reports for each of the financial years.

Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the geographic direct dial phone number for the Jobcentre Plus area benefits office at James Watt Way, Crawley is; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost to benefit claimants of directing them to use 0845 phone numbers to contact area benefit offices.

Steve Webb: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Darra Singh:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the geographic direct dial phone number for the Jobcentre Plus area benefits office at James Watt Way, Crawley is; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost to benefit claimants of directing them to use 0845 phone numbers to contact area benefit offices. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) telephony strategy is to rationalise the numbers we publish for our customers so that they are clearly directed to the service they require. Jobcentre Plus contact centres operate a virtual telephony network where calls are directed to the next available advisor with the appropriate skills to answer customers' enquiries. Disclosure of the geographic number you requested would compromise this strategy and would lead to a reduced service to our customers.
	Additionally, releasing geographic numbers behind the 0845 service lines would result in additional costs to Jobcentre Plus as we would not be able to manage calls as effectively. Jobcentre Plus would also lose key call management information essential to the planning and allocation of staff resources.
	It is free to call DWP 0800 numbers from BT landlines and agreements are in place to ensure that it is free to call via nine of the UK's largest mobile phone operators, representing 95% of the mobile market. The 0845 numbers are not part of the agreement because they are for enquiries that typically take less time to resolve. DWP strives to achieve the right balance between meeting customer needs and using taxpayers' money effectively.
	Calls from landlines to 0845 numbers vary according to provider and are subject to periodic change. The rate is set based on the customer's personal contract arrangements. For example, BT, the largest landline provider, does not charge for 0845 calls where the customer has a Call Plan and the call is made within the call plan times. BT accounts for two-thirds of landline provision and our recent research shows that over 75% of our customers contact us using landlines.
	As the cost to the customer of calling our 0845 numbers is dependant upon their method of calling and their personal call plans it is not possible to determine the cost of calls to the Department's 0845 telephone numbers.

Pensioners: Leeds

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to reduce the level of pensioner poverty in  (a) Leeds North West constituency and  (b) Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: We will restore the earnings link for the basic state pension from April 2011, with a 'triple guarantee' that the basic state pension will increase by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5%. In the event that the basic state pension is increased by more than earnings in 2011, the Government's intention is that the majority of pension credit recipients will benefit from the full cash value of this increase.
	We want to ensure that older people receive the help that they are entitled to. We will be conducting a research study later this year into the feasibility of using existing data to help to improve the take-up of pension credit.
	We will help prevent people from falling into poverty in later life by simplifying the rules and regulations relating to pensions to help reinvigorate occupational pensions. We will encourage companies to offer high-quality pensions to all employees and will work with businesses and the industry to support auto enrolment.

Pensioners: Leeds

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Leeds North West constituency receive  (a) the basic state pension and  (b) pension credit.

Steve Webb: The information requested for those in receipt of the state pension and pension credit in Leeds North West constituency as at February 2010 has been placed in the Library.

Pensioners: Poverty

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners were lifted out of poverty between 1997 and May 2010.

Steve Webb: Estimates of the number and proportion of pensioners living in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living.
	Figures for 1997-98 cover Great Britain only, as Northern Ireland data did not become available until the following year. The latest available data covers 2008-09.
	Relative poverty for pensioners is defined as households with income below 60% of contemporary median equivalised income after housing costs.
	In 1997-98, there were around 2.9 million pensioners in relative poverty in Great Britain, which equates to around 29% of all pensioners. The 2008-09 UK figures show that around 1.8 million pensioners were in relative poverty, equating to around 16%.
	Estimates of the number of pensioners who have been lifted out of poverty are not available, as each year different households are surveyed to produce low income statistics in the Households Below Average Income series. However, information is available about the net change over the period requested. Between 1997-98 and 2008-09, the number of pensioners with incomes below 60% of the contemporary median income reduced by around 1.2 million in Great Britain.
	 Notes:
	1. These statistics are based on the Households Below Average Income series, sourced from the Family Resources Survey.
	2. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to uncertainty.
	3. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures are single financial years.
	4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living.
	5. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) modified equivalisation factors.
	6. Numbers of pensioners in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000, while proportions of pensioners in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.
	7. These statistics are based on incomes after housing costs.

Personal Accounts Delivery Authority: Travel

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the reasons are for the increase in expenditure on travel by the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority between 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Steve Webb: The main reason for the lower reported expenditure in 2007-08 is because this only covers the single month of March 2008, whereas the figures for 2008-09 represent 12 month's expenditure. The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority only started to account for its own expenditure from 1 March 2008, when it achieved grant-in-aid status. Prior to this, all its expenditure was accounted for and reported within DWP accounts.
	2008-09 also represented a period of growth for PADA, when teams were expanded in London, Newcastle and Leeds in preparation for the procurement of services that will underpin the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). This period also necessitated a small number of overseas visits so that PADA could gain a better understanding of the scheme's administration and investment markets and how future NEST contracts for such services might be structured.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit claimants receiving only national insurance contribution credits received a benefit sanction in 2009-10.

Chris Grayling: The information is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the Information Commissioner on the proposal for use of credit ratings agencies to monitor benefit recipients' spending; what assessment he has made of the compliance of the proposal with data protection legislation; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The Secretary of State has not met with the Information Commissioner to discuss the Department's proposal to make wider use of Credit Reference Agency data. DWP officials have, however, had an initial meeting with the Information Commissioner on this issue and a follow up meeting is planned for later in September.
	As discussions on the Department's proposals are ongoing, the Information Commissioner has not yet made an assessment of compliance with data protection legislation.

State Retirement Pensions

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of the full state retirement pension have accrued less than the full number of entitlement years by means of contributions or bought-back years.

Steve Webb: At the end of the 2008-09 tax year, there were 1.6 million individuals over state pension age in the UK and overseas whose full basic state pension entitlement depended on national insurance credits or home responsibilities protection awards.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures exclude individuals for whom entitlement to full basic pension is derived wholly or in part from their former spouse's national insurance contributions.
	2. The figure is for individuals reaching state pension age before 6 April 2009. These individuals are not affected by changes to the calculation of entitlement to the basic state pension for people reaching state pension age from 6 April 2010.
	 Source:
	DWP, Information Directorate: Lifetime Labour Market Database 1% sample of the National Insurance Recording System.

Winter Fuel Payments

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners were in receipt of the winter fuel payment on the date of each increase to the payment since its inception.

Steve Webb: The available information is in the tables.
	
		
			   Rate of payment (£)  Numbers of individuals 
			 1999-2000 100 10,084,130 
			 2000-01 200 11,105,745 
			 2001-02 200 11,201,895 
			 2002-03 200 11,348,040 
		
	
	
		
			   Rate of payment (aged up to 79 years) (£)  Rate of payment (aged 80+) (£)  Number of individuals (aged up to 79 years)  Number of individuals (aged 80+)  Total number of individuals 
			 2003-04 200 300 9,133,840 2,334,395 11,468,235 
			 2004-05 200 300 9,087,935 2,313,235 11,401,170 
			 2005-06 200 300 9,172,750 2,342,010 11,514,760 
			 2006-07 200 300 9,326,030 2,376,870 11,702,900 
			 2007-08 200 300 9,644,550 2,424,190 12,068,740 
			 2008-09 250 400 9,886,690 2,470,700 12,357,390 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. All figures are for GB. 3. 2008-09 is the latest year for which figures are available.  Source: DWP Information Directorate 100% data

Winter Fuel Payments

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what future rate of winter fuel payments he plans for people aged  (a) 60 years or over and  (b) 80 years or over.

Steve Webb: Households with someone born on or before 5 July 1950 will be eligible for a winter fuel payment in 2010-11. The payment for households with someone aged up to 79 years of age will be £250 and for households with someone aged 80 and over it will be £400.
	Decisions for subsequent years are a matter for HM Treasury as part of the budget cycle.